Killers of the Flower Moon is the new thriller by Martin Scorsese based on historical events, but will the considerable star power of Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, and Robert De Niro truly become profitable?
Killers of the Flower Moon is about a real-life string of murders of citizens of the Osage Nation. The Osage Nation of Oklahoma had discovered oil on their land in the 1920s, making them incredibly wealthy. Because of this, they became the target of murders in order to shore up the “head rights.” One by one, the relatives of Mollie Burkhart (Gladstone) died under mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile, Mollie’s husband, Ernest Brukhart (DiCaprio) and his uncle, William Hale (De Niro), found themselves closer and closer to being next in line to inherit the immense wealth created from the oil thanks to the familial ties.
Killers of the Flower Moon box office and budget, revealed
The budget for Killers of the Flower Moon was reported by The Numbers as $200 million, with a domestic box office gross over its opening weekend on Oct. 20 being $23 million. When you include the international box office haul, the film’s total worldwide gross over the weekend was $44 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
At this point, it’s entirely too soon to tell whether Killers of the Flower Moon will actually be profitable in theaters. When you compare the opening domestic weekend with another R-rated historical drama from earlier this year, Oppenheimer, it certainly lags behind. Oppenheimer made $82 million for its opening weekend on July 21, no doubt bolstered by the Barbenheimer social media trend. However, the film also benefited from being half the budget of Flower Moon, with its $100 million budget creating a shorter runway to profitability.
The fact that Flower Moon is a co-production of both Paramount and Apple TV Plus means it likely has a predestined life on the streaming service as an original once the theatrical run wraps up. As such, the profitability might be calculated in a less traditional manner. For instance, the movie could be considered a hit by its production company if it resulted in a deluge of new Apple TV Plus subscribers signing up just to watch it if they missed it in theaters.
Regardless of how all of this shakes out, if you want to see what all the buzz is about for the movie that is getting near universal acclaim, Killers of the Flower Moon is playing at a theater near you.
