It doesn’t look like The Irishman’s massive budget is the mountain top for director Martin Scorsese. A new report from TheWallStreetJournal claims that his period true-crime thriller Killers of The Flower Moon starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro has seen it’s budget to balloon to over $200 million.
TheAnkler stated in February the budget was closer to $225 million.
Paramount Pictures and Martin are said to have clashed over the pricey budget, the pair previously parted ways on The Irishman which is estimated to have cost $150-170+ million. However, they’re open to a deal that would allow them to finance and distribute the film if producers are able to find others to help cover the hefty costs.
They are also reporting that Marty is looking to streaming services with deep pockets to cover Flower Moon’s massive budget courting Apple and Netflix. The latter helped to get The Irishman made, another pricey film that had extensive visual effects budget due to the de-ageing that was used to cover multiple decades with the lead characters.
MGM and Universal were also mentioned as other potential backers.
KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – Set in 1920s Oklahoma, where the Osage Indians were granted revenue rights to oil discovered under their lands that was harvested by oil companies. Suddenly, they began to get murdered as did those trying to investigate. It came down to the newly created Bureau of Investigation, to overcome the corrupting influences from oil money and politics to solve the murder mystery, one that would bring the FBI to prominence.
This would be the first time that Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio have worked together since This Boy’s Life from 1993, one of Leo’s first feature films.
Filming was expected to begin soon in Oaklahoma, but that doesn’t seem to be happening as a bulk of film/television productions in the United States and across the globe have been paused as governments are concerned about the spread of coronavirus during the current pandemic limited the amount people who gather in crowds.
Apple and Netflix could be very excited by the prospect of a high-profile Oscar contender that would get plenty of eyeballs given its budget is indeed shocking given the subject matter.
It’s unknown when filming will begin and its release date would depend if they’re able to find someone to pay for it.
SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
