Apple and Paramount are giving Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” a wide theatrical release in over 3600 theaters this weekend and, according to Deadline, the tracking has it at around $20M-$25M.
This would be impressive for a 3 hour, 26-minute western drama, with no actors promoting it during the strike, but I sure as hell hope it’ll gross more. May the cinematic Gods grace ‘Killers’ with a $30 million weekend.
Apple spent $200 million on ‘Killers,’ mostly for the prestige, Oscar noms and the fact that it could bring in more subscribers on their streaming platform. Breaking even is just an added bonus. But for the sake of cinema’s survival? I sure would like to see a 206 minute, R-rated, non-IP film pull better numbers.
Scorsese’s last two films barely made any money. 2016’s “Silence” grossed $22 million, on a $50 million budget, and 2019’s “The Irishman,” which was produced by Netflix, had only been granted a brief, and limited, 2-week theatrical release by the streamer.