Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon shorter than previously reported

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s forthcoming Killers of the Flower Moon has a shorter runtime than previously reported, but is still the director’s second longest film.

Director Martin Scorsese and actor Leonardo DiCaprio have worked together five times, starting with Gangs of New York in 2002 then progressing through The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island, and most recently The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013.

This year will see their sixth feature film – Killers of the Flower Moon – debut in Cannes in May, before releasing in cinemas in October, then finally heading to Apple TV.

We now know the length of the movie, and it’s a long one…

How long is Killers of the Flower Moon?

UPDATE: Deadline has revealed that Killers of the Flower Moon clocks in at 206 minutes. That’s still a sizeable 3 hours and 26 minutes, but less than previously reported.

Cannes director Thierry Fremaux had told Variety that Killers of the Flower Moon was running to 234-minutes, which is a whopping 3 hours and 54 minutes. During their interview, Fremaux said: “I don’t know what the final length is, but let’s say that for me it’s not an issue. All I know is that it’s only five minutes more than Once Upon a Time in America.”

There have of course been multiple versions of Once Upon a Time in America, with differing runtimes. But the most popular and acclaimed version clocks in at 3 hours and 49 minutes, which tracks with what Fremaux said. But there have clearly been cuts to Killers of the Flower Moon since then.

Scorsese’s longest film thus far is The Irishman, which has a runtime of 3 hours and 29 minutes. Meaning Killers of the Flower Moon now comes in at just under that.

What is Martin Scorsese’s new movie about?

Based on a true story, Killers of the Flower Moon revolves around a series of murders in the Osage Nation in the 1920s.

Scorsese has co-written the script with Eric Roth, which in turn is based on the book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, which was written by David Grann and published in 2017.

Here’s the official synopsis for the book: “In the 1920s, the richest people per capita in the world were members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. After oil was discovered beneath their land, the Osage rode in chauffeured automobiles, built mansions, and sent their children to study in Europe.

“Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And it was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.

“As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.”

This article was updated on April 18, 2023 with that new runtime.

Killers of the Flower Moon will hit screens worldwide in October. For more of our movie coverage, head here.