(UTV | COLOMBO) – A new Wall Street Journal report indicates that reps for Martin Scorsese are said to have engaged in talks with both Apple and Netflix to produce and/or distribute Scorsese’s next directorial effort “Killers of the Flower Moon”.
This would confirm rumors from back in February that what happened with “The Irishman” could happen again – namely that a project gets initially setup at Paramount Pictures who baulks at a ballooning budget and lets it go to a streaming company.
Starring Leonardo Di Caprio and based on “The Lost City of Z” author David Grann’s non-fiction book, the 1920s true story focuses on a string of murders of members of the Osage nation in Oklahoma after oil was discovered beneath their land. The series of slayings was one of the fledgeling FBI’s first major homicide investigations.
The film is now expected to cost over $200 million to produce, more than the $173 million that “The Irishman” cost, and so Paramount reportedly told Scorsese to seek out other partners. Scorsese also reportedly reached out to Universal and MGM, and Paramount is said to be open to a deal that would still allow them to participate as a financier or distributor.