Screenwriter Eric Roth recently did an FYC interview about “Dune,” but also spoke at length about Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which he says is “being released in November” and that “Marty is well on his way to getting the editing done.”
Maybe a possible Cannes 2022 berth? One can dream, it is the 75th anniversary of the fest, but it’s definitely a long shot.
Killers of the Flower Moon” is David Grann’s non-fiction investigation of a series of murders that plagued the Osage people during the 1920s after oil was discovered on their land. You’re dealing with history.
Here are the Roth quotes:
“Well, I’ve done that before in “Munich” and when Michael Mann and I did “Ali.” I’ve done that kind of bio. But this was a unique story that I knew nothing about. It showed my ignorance. I thought, “It’s unbelievable, it could be a Western.” Marty’s never done a Western. It’s the first time you’ll see a street scene where there’s 90 percent Native American indigenous people, and 1 or 2 percent Caucasians.
“He showed me early on a clunky, dated movie called “The FBI Story,” with Jimmy Stewart: three cases from the FBI files, and this was one of them. They had an oil well in the middle of the street. I felt it might have a feeling of this, and so I utilize a lot of Western tropes for it. Marty lets you go far afield. He doesn’t mind exploring whatever way creatively you want to do things and so I had a lot of E-ticket rides. I don’t know what are left.”
This is quite clearly the most anticipated movie of 2022 for cinephiles worldwide, and, judging by the way Roth speaks of the lengthy screenplay, we might have another 3+ hour Scorsese movie in our hands.