Leonardo DiCaprio argued for rewrites on Martin Scorsese's 'Killers of the Flower Moon'?

Killers of the Flower Moon is an upcoming movie directed by Martin Scorsese. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the lead roles. It is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by an American journalist, David Grann. The project was earlier facing issue due to its budget and now it is going under rewrites after DiCaprio argued to do so.

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Leonardo DiCaprio argued for rewrites on 'Killers of the Flower Moon'

In a recent interview with the Script Notes podcast, Killers of the Flower Moon screenwriter Eric Roth gave details on what’s going behind the making of the film. He revealed that the movie is supposed to start filming in March 2021 once coronavirus or COVID-19 clears out, with Martin Scorsese back to work. The screenwriter stated that the makers will be continuing rewriters on the project. He mentioned that Leonardo DiCaprio wanted some things changed and they argued about it. Roth asserted that the actor won half of the argument and he won the other half. So the rewrites are happening, he noted.

Eric Roth added that he spent four or five years on the book, Killers of the Flower Moon, which everybody should read. He called it a “wonderful” book. He thinks that his screenplay was accurate to the book. Roth mentioned that it is the story of Osage Indians, set in 1921, the poorest people in America who discover oil in a terrible land in Oklahoma where they have been driven to. Then every killer in America comes to kill 184 of them for their money, but a “really heroic” guy comes in to help.

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Paramount was set to finance Killers of the Flower Moon, but they considered the budget of $180 million too high, trying to take it down to $150 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, things got more complicated when Martin Scorsese and Leonardo decided to make changes to the script. Originally, the Oscar-winning actor was playing the good guy working for the then-nascent FBI. In the revised version, DiCaprio would portray villain Robert De Niro’s nephew, who is torn between love and evil machinations of his uncle. Paramount reportedly felt that the change turned the movie into a moody and less commercial character study. The studio allowed the Academy Award-winning director to shop the project.

The rights for the film were then bought by Apple Studios, adding prestige to its newly launched streaming platform, Apple TV+. Now the budget of the project stands at $200 million, fulfilling the requirement of Martin Scorsese. Paramount will still serve as the distributor for the movie who’s release date is yet to be announced.

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