Criterion has come to the rescue of yet another auteur-driven streaming movie.
It’s been nearly a year since Apple indefinitely canceled the film’s physical media release. Patron holds were canceled, temporary MARC listings were pulled from library catalogs, and speculation ran rampant. Criterion reportedly reached out to Apple multiple times in an attempt to take over and release “Killers,” but the streamer initially refused to cooperate.
Now for the good news: Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” will finally receive a physical media release via Criterion on March 24, 2026, finally ending years of uncertainty and fan demand for a disc edition of Scorsese’s epic, and marking a reversal after Apple’s early resistance to releasing it on physical media.
The release is stacked with expansive supplemental material, headlined by a new 4K digital master approved by Scorsese and presented with a Dolby Atmos soundtrack. The three-disc set will include multiple new documentaries, highlighted by an in-depth feature with key cast and crew members.
This marks the second straight Scorsese film saved from physical-media limbo — “The Irishman,” a Netflix original, was also picked up by Criterion and released roughly a year after its initial debut on the streamer. I’d now imagine a similar fate could await Scorsese’s upcoming Apple project, “What Happens at Night,” which is likewise set up at the company.
Apple has a long-standing reluctance to release its original films on physical media. Notably, the streamer waited until just a few months ago to release its Oscar-winning “CODA,” which was the only Best Picture winner never made available on physical media. Other high-profile Apple titles still not available include Joseph Kosinski’s “F1,” Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” and Joel Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
By contrast, even Scorsese’s Netflix original “The Irishman” received a Criterion release, as did Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma,” Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Bong Joon-ho’s “Okja,” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.” It’s striking to see Apple prove even more protective of its content than Netflix. Maybe that’s now about to change.
Below is the Criterion cover for ‘Killers’
