The folks over at Apple TV have been a quiet bunch of late. There’s been radio silence these past few months regarding Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” They did take the time to semi-launch a campaign for the Will Smith epic “Emancipation” ..
I’ve had to rely all these months on a source close to the ‘Killers’ team who last told me the film was almost finished in the editing room. So, why not release it in 2022? The main reason it’s not being released this year, he told me, seems to stem from “Marty just not wanting to take on Steven [Spielberg]. They believe it’s Steven’s time.”
If that’s the case, then it’s an extremely lame excuse. Just release the damn thing already. Cinephiles worldwide are eagerly anticipating this latest statement from maître Scorsese.
Scorsese and Apple purposely deciding to withdraw from the Oscar sweepstakes because of Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” is crushing. ‘Killers’ was all set to have a teaser released in August and then came Scorsese’s call for minor reshoots in NYC, mostly having to do with the film’s coda, that didn’t disrupt the editing phase too much.
Production on “Killers of the Flower Moon” ended almost 12 months ago. There is no way ‘Killers’ wouldn’t be ready by the end of December in some way shape or form. The delays seem to be tactical, maybe even political, manoeuvring more than anything else.
A Deadline report in the late summer hinted that Scorsese delayed the film, seemingly interested in debuting it at Cannes next May. This would be Scorsese’s first film shown at Cannes in over 20 years, and that was just to premiere the first 20 minutes of “Gangs of New York.”
No, the actual last time Scorsese screened a full-length feature at Cannes goes back to the mid-‘80s when “After Hours” was in official competition. Scorsese went on to win the Best Director Prize that year. The other Scorsese films to have competed for the Palme d’Or were 1974’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” 1976’s “Taxi Driver” and 1983’s “The King of Comedy.”
So, is Scorsese actually going to Cannes? My source tells me it’s not a done deal because, quite frankly, Apple are still waiting for Marty to give them an update on the film.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been seeing some big name directors, Cannes regulars, starting to shoot new works, with what I would assume, for many of them, is the intent of premiering these films at Cannes. Last month, I had found 35 films that might show up for the 76th edition.
On-paper it looks like a stunning set of filmmakers: Scorsese, Anderson, Glazer, Lanthimos, Haynes, Payne, Ceylan, Aster, Godard, Allen, Rohrwacher, Dumont, Sissako, and, who knows, maybe even Polanski.
Of course, things could rapidly change, but if somehow “Killers of the Flower Moon” ends up having its first screening at Cannes, then it’ll be a major get for Thierry Fremaux and quite possibly one of the most anticipated movies in Cannes history.