The most acclaimed film of 2023 might not be getting a physical media release.
While it’s yet to be officially confirmed by Apple, there’s now a lot of speculation leading towards Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” not being made available on Blu-Ray or DVD in the U.S.
As per a social media user, who has had direct knowledge on the situation, it’s looking pretty grim for any sort of ‘Killers’ physical media:
I haven’t seen it announced on here, but we got word through one of our library media fulfillment companies: They have, at the very least, indefinitely postponed (very likely canceled) the physical media release of “Killers of the Flower Moon […] Patron holds are being canceled, temp MARC listings are pulled from library catalog, please inform patrons if they ask.
This isn’t at all surprising. Apple doesn’t release its original films on physical media. In fact, the streamer still hasn’t released their 2021 Best Picture winner CODA — it remains the only Best Picture winner to have never been available on physical media.
Hell, even Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” a Netflix original, has been released on Criterion. I’m sure Criterion will be reaching out to Apple, if they haven’t already, but don’t expect Apple to uniformly accept the proposal. They most likely won’t as they are very protective of their own content.
For the time being, if you want to get your hands on Scorsese’s latest, you’ll have to buy the Region 2 copy, which is only available in Europe or online stores.
I’ve already tackled the current decline of physical media, which will only be accentuated in the coming years. For example, Disney still won’t release Zach Cregger’s “Barbarian” and Andrew Haigh’s “All of Us Strangers.”
I contacted Apple and they declined to comment.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.