Martin Scorsese defends Killers of the Flower Moon's MAMMOTH runtime: 'Respect Cinema!'

Martin Scorsese has defended the three-and-half-hour runtime of Killers of the Flower Moon.

The historical epic is directed by Scorsese and features an all-star cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Brendan Fraser, Jesse Plemons and John Lithgow.

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It is based on the non-fiction novel Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI written by David Grann. 

The official premise reads:

'Members of the Osage tribe in northeastern Oklahoma are murdered under mysterious circumstances in the 1920s, sparking a major BOI investigation directed by a 29-year-old J. Edgar Hoover and former Texas Ranger Tom White, described by Grann as "an old-style lawman."'

Theater-goers are in for quite the shift due to the run-time, but Scorsese has urged fans to give cinema the respect it deserves.

"Killers could play on a small screen, but in order to truly immerse yourself, you should take out the time," the legendary director told The Hindustan Times.

"People say it's three hours, but come on, you can sit in front of the TV and watch something for five hours. Also, there are many people who watch theater for 3.5 hours. There are real actors on stage, you can't get up and walk around.

"You give it that respect, give cinema some respect."

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Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

The 1920s, Oklahoma. Members of the Osage tribe are murdered under mysterious circumstances. After the death toll continues to rise, the newly formed FBI takes on the case. The case will lead to one of the largest crime cases in American history.

Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone

A major rewrite was required on Killers of the Flower Moon

Within the novel, the narrative is focused more on the FBI investigators rather than the murdered Native American victims, and Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth felt it necessary to flip the stories around to highlight the plight of the tribe.

"After a certain point, I realised I was making a movie about all the white guys. Meaning I was taking the approach from the outside in, which concerned me," he previously told Time Magazine.

Originally, DiCaprio was meant to play Texas Ranger Tom White, but Scorsese made the decision to give that role to Plemons, while DiCaprio was cast as Ernest Burkhart, with the narrative focus switching to his relationship with his wife, Mollie, played by Gladstone.

Killers of the Flower Moon has already had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May and received acclaim as well as a long standing ovation. It will be theatrically released in cinemas in October of 2023 before featuring on Apple TV+.

The movie will be Scorsese and Di Caprio's sixth movie collaboration after Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, Shutter Island and The Wolf of Wall Street.

It is the tenth collaboration between Scorsese and De Niro after Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino and The Irishman.