Apple’s ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Finally Coming to Apple TV+

It was nearly four years ago when we first heard news that Apple was teaming up with the legendary Martin Scorsese to produce one of the first blockbuster Hollywood pics on its roster, Killers of the Flower Moon.

Like most big productions, it took a couple of years before the film was in the can, but it also turned out to be one of the company’s key theatrical releases, marking a new era for Apple’s silver screen ambitions.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon is based on a bestseller by David Grann of the same name, which tells the story of a series of murders of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma — a string of crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.

The film was released in theatres on October 20, 2023, and started racking up accolades in no time at all, including 12 Critics Choice Award nominations, 7 Golden Globe Award nominations, and a spot on the American Film Institute’s list of Motion Pictures of the Year. It’s also been honored as the Best Film of the Year by the National Board of Review and is on the shortlist for several Academy Awards.

While last fall’s release of Killers of the Flower Moon wasn’t the first time Apple has put a film on the big screen, it’s the first that a theatrical debut of one of Apple’s films hasn’t been joined by an Apple TV+ premiere around the same time.

In fact, Apple TV+ seems to be the last in line this time around. Killers of the Flower Moon went on sale through Paramount Home Entertainment on December 5 as a digital release, available for purchase or rent on several services, including iTunes.

However, despite being entirely bankrolled by Apple, the film has remained conspicuously absent from Apple TV+ — and Apple was silent about when we could expect it to appear.

Thankfully, we finally have a release date. Today, Apple announced that Killers of the Flower Moon will premiere globally on Apple TV+ next Friday, January 12, 2024.

The timing probably isn’t entirely coincidental, either. According to Apple’s announcement, the film will be honored tonight by receiving the Vanguard Award at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards gala.

There’s a good chance this will be the beginning of a trend for many more of Apple’s original films, which have garnered a great deal of cachet since Apple became the first streaming service to walk away with an Oscar for Best Picture with its 2021 release of CODA. Apple not only made history by picking up the coveted Academy Award that Netflix has been vying to get its hands on for years, but it also marked the first time a Deaf male actor had ever received an Oscar.

Killers of the Flower Moon is far from a one-off. Apple has had ambitions of winning Oscars since Apple TV+ was in its infancy, and last spring, sources revealed the company is committed to spending $1 billion per year on theatrical releases — not films primarily for streaming on Apple TV+, but those intended to debut almost exclusively on the big screen.

This is likely part of Apple’s strategy to make sure its films are being taken seriously. Many of the movers and shakers in Hollywood have been quite vocal in their opposition to streaming movies qualifying for Academy Awards. As far back as 2019, legendary director Steven Spielberg, who sits on the Academy’s Board of Governors, spoke out against “token” theatrical releases by streaming giants like Netflix.

According to current Academy Awards rules, a film can be shown in only a single commercial theatre for seven consecutive days to qualify for an Oscar — even for Best Picture. This theatrical release must be in one of six US metro areas, including Los Angeles County, the City of New York, the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Miami, and Atlanta; however, the film can appear in only one theater in one town, and it’s good to go as long as it runs for seven consecutive days and has at least three showings per day.

There are also no restrictions at all on when a streaming version can be released — it can even be the very same day of a film’s theatrical qualifying run.

While those rules remain in place for this year’s 96th Academy Awards, the Academy has been considering stricter rules for films to qualify. Last year, Academy CEO Bill Kramer proposed a change to the Academy’s Board of Governors that would have required films to play in theatres in 15 to 20 of the top markets in the US to be eligible.

Such a change understandably couldn’t be implemented part way through an awards season, but new rules will be in place for the 97th Academy Awards for films released in 2024. While not as severe as Kramer’s original proposal, studios will be required to conduct an “expanded theatrical run” of seven more days in 10 of the top 50 US markets no later than 45 days after a film’s initial release before it will be considered eligible to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture, although this requirement won’t apply to any other awards categories.

While the Academy hasn’t modified the standards to rule out same-day streaming releases, Apple and other streaming giants still have to contend with the unwritten rules of Hollywood — a place where many Academy members may be reluctant to take a movie seriously if it appears online too soon. The road that Killers of the Flower Moon has followed from the big screen to your set-top box feels about right — and will probably be the pattern for many more of Apple’s films going forward.