Apple TV+ lands Scorsese film starring Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio

Apple TV+ has landed the rights to stream a brand new Martin Scorsese film, Killers of the Flower Moon.

As reported by Deadline, the film has already cast Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in lead roles and has reportedly set Apple back around $200 million. Whilst Deadline notes the deal as being imminent, a later WSJ report seemingly confirms that it has been closed. From Deadline:

The deal, which calls for Apple to finance and become the creative studio, gives the movie a hybrid situation and the best of both worlds. The film will get a wide theatrical release through Paramount before it becomes the biggest film title so far on Apple's streaming service. A big priority was for this to be a large scale Western and that was important to Scorsese, DiCaprio, De Niro, and the film's producers Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas at Imperative.

The deal is the second heavyweight film acquisition Apple has made recently, also picking up Greyhound, a WWII film starring Tom Hanks.

This new film is based on the book Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders And The Birth Of The FBI, a book about a series of murders of affluent Osage Native Americans in Oklahoma. The film is set in the 1920s and follows the discovery of oil deposits beneath the lands of the aforementioned Native Americans. Deadline notes "the ensuing investigation established the FBI and was a pivotal moment in the evolution of America from its frontier era."

As mentioned, the deal means that Apple will finance the film, and be listed as the creative studio. Paramount will distribute a "wide theatrical release" before it lands on Apple's TV+ streaming platform. Paramount describes it as "the biggest film title so far" on the service.