The official trailer for Killers of the Flower Moon just dropped. Here's what we know

“THE OSAGE. They have the worst land possible. But they outsmarted everybody. The land had oil on it; black gold.” That is the crux of what this incredible true story is about; the Osage Nation, a Midwestern Native American tribe from the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys, who presided on oil land, who amassed a fortune… up until the ‘Reign of Terror’.

Killers of the Flower Moon, an Apple Original Film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, and directed by Martin Scorsese, just dropped its first offical trailer ahead of its theatrical release and there’s a lot to take away from the explosive two-minute clip.

Here’s what we know so far about this Oscars-contender film that has all the hallmarks of becoming a truly classic DiCaprio/Scorsese film.

What is Killers of the Flower Moon about?

In the 1870s, the Osage were driven from their lands in Kansas to the rocky, barren fields of northeastern Oklahoma. By the 1920s, the Osage were the richest people per capita anywhere in the world. Why? Because of the land they lived on, the presumably worthless reservation turned out to be sitting above some of the largest oil deposits in the country.

Judging by the first offical trailer of Killers of the Flower Moon, the crime-drama will likely chronicle the rags-to-riches story of the Osage — until they began being mysteriously murdered. As depicted in the trailer, dozens of the Osage tribe were being shot, stabbed, beaten and bombed, which caught the attention of the newly-established FBI — eventually, becoming its first big case in American history.

“It was the dominant society’s view that these ‘savages’ weren’t entitled to anything, and if they got something, then it was within your right as a White person to take it,” Jim Gray said via Bloomberg, a former chief of the Osage Nation and the the great-grandson of Henry Roan, a member of the Osage who was murdered during the Reign of Terror.

As for DiCaprio and De Niro’s involvement, the film’s stellar leads see them play a nephew and uncle who team up to try and seize the extraordinary wealth of the Osage. How far they get (before FBI involvement) remains to be seen.

Who will star in Killers of the Flower Moon?

Three of the biggest names in Hollywood are tied to Killers of the Flower Moon: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. The other biggest drawcard with an immense Oscar buzz tied to her performance is Lily Gladstone, who plays the real-life Osage woman Mollie Burkhart, who develops a significant relationship with Ernest Burkhart (Di Caprio).

Jessie Plemons and Brendan Fraser also have supporting roles in the film.

The film is based off a novel of the same title?

Indeed. The crime drama is adapted from David Grann’s non-fiction novel of the same name, a novel that details Oklahoma’s oil-rich Osage community whose members began to die under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s.

When will Killers of the Flower Moon be released?

Killers of the Flower Moon will open exclusively in cinemas on October 20, 2023.