Martin Scorsese is one of Hollywood’s greatest directors of all-time. Leonardo DiCaprio is one of Hollywood’s greatest actors of all-time. When they get together they make outstanding films as evidence with “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and “The Departed.” The dynamic duo are reuniting for a new movie and it sounds very intriguing.
Scorsese’s upcoming project is a film adaptation of true-crime thriller “Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI.” The book was written by New Yorker’s David Grann and examines the numerous murders of members of the Osage Indian nation in Oklahoma in the 1920s. After oil was found on their land, the tribe was paid handsomely for the black gold and received hefty annual royalties. Soon after, around 60 wealthy Osage Indians were murdered between 1921-1925. Most of the mysterious murders were never solved and an investigation was opened by the government making it one of the first major homicide investigations by the fledgling FBI.
The book’s synopsis:
“In desperation, the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including one of the only American Indian agents in the bureau. The agents infiltrated the region, struggling to adopt the latest techniques of detection. Together with the Osage they began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.”
The script is being adapted by Oscar-winning writer Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) and filming is expected to start in spring of 2018. Rights to “Flower Moon” went for a reported $5 million.
Scorcese has numerous projects planned in the near future that include a Frank Sinatra biopic, an Evel Knievel biopic, and an original crime drama called “The Irishman,” which will feature goodfellas Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. “The Irishman” is about mobster Frank Sheeran, and is supposed to start shooting sometime soon. Netflix paid $120 million for “The Irishman,” and it hasn’t said whether it will be a theatrical release or not.
[Variety]