L-R: Apple’s Eddy Cue, Martin Scorsese, Apple’s Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg at the Los Angeles premiere of Apple Original Films’ “Killers of the Flower Moon” in the Dolby Theatre.
Ahead of its Apple TV+ streaming debut, the theatrical release of the Martin Scorsese-directed “Killers of the Flower Moon” earned second place in the weekend box office charts.
However, the “wealth of these Native Americans immediately attracted white interlopers,” says the film’s synopsis, “who manipulated, extorted, and stole as much Osage money as they could before resorting to murder.”
Following a series of premiers around the world, with Tim Cook attending the screening at Cannes, Variety reports that its general release opened to a box office of $23 million nationally. It was screened in 3,628 theaters across the US, and internationally it earned a further $21 million from 63 countries or territories.
For such an expensive production, though, $23 million would normally be considered very low — and the film was beaten by Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” movie.
In the case of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” however, the theatrical release is being seen as a launch for the movie’s streaming debut on Apple TV+. Variety points out that the film would not have been made at all without Apple, as the streamer stepped in when Paramount was going to have to back down.
It’s also notable that the release could not be accompanied by any promotion from its cast, including Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, because of the ongoing actors’ strike.
This story originally appeared on Appleinsider
