Killers Of The Flower Moon Tops The Wolf Of Wall Street With $23 Million Opening Weekend
Hollywood's trifecta of old guard directors — Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, and Martin Scorsese — occupy a unique position in the modern Hollywood landscape. They have more misses than hits at the box office these days, but their names carry so much prestige that studios are still handing over big budgets anyway. After all, you never know when Spielberg is going to make another "Ready Player One," or Scott another "The Martian," or Scorsese another "Wolf of Wall Street."
Enter Scorsese's historical crime drama "Killers of the Flower Moon," which was co-financed by Paramount Pictures and Apple Original Films to the tune of a $200 million production budget. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, and Lily Gladstone, the film rode into theaters this weekend on a wave of rave reviews (92% on Rotty T's, as of this writing). Variety reports that "Killers of the Flower Moon" is currently projected to finish its opening weekend with a total of $23 million from 3,628 theaters. It grossed $9.6 million on Friday, including $2.6 million from Thursday previews.
As Variety notes, that's a bigger start than the last Scorsese movie that kicked off with a wide theatrical release: "The Wolf of Wall Street," which scored an $18.3 million debut back in 2013. However, it looks like Martin Scorsese will lose the wrestling match with Taylor Swift (now there's a mental image) as "Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour" is expected to remain #1 in the box office rankings over its second weekend. The record-smashing concert film grossed $5.9 million on Thursday and $10.4 million on Friday, returning to theaters after a strategic absence of showings Monday-to-Wednesday, to emphasize the "event" vibes.
Marty takes a bite of the Apple
Though the Hollywood frenzy of splurging on streaming seems to be drying up, with studios like Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery now scrambling to cut costs, Scorsese is still reaping the benefits of tech titans breaking into the film industry. For Apple, a company that had a total revenue of $394.3 billion in 2022, the cost of financing "Killers of the Flower Moon" is scarcely more than a rounding error. The true value of the film lies more in establishing Apple Original Films as a respected brand, with room for future growth, than in breaking even at the box office. There's also the hope that the presence of prestige films will attract more subscribers to Apple TV+, which has struggled to compete in a heated streaming market.
We can expect a big awards push for "Killers of the Flower Moon," which could bode well for its long-term prospects at the box office. From its initial $18.3 million opening weekend, "The Wolf of Wall Street" went on to gross $392 million worldwide thanks to Oscars buzz (it was nominated five times, though scored no wins) and strong overseas performance. That movie had around half the budget of "Killers of the Flower Moon," but if Scorsese's new film follows a similar trajectory it could potentially come close to breaking even at the box office. Audiences seem happy so far, giving it an A- CinemaScore based on exit polling.
Next on Apple's Oscars agenda is Ridley Scott's biopic "Napoleon," starring Joaquin Phoenix as the French general who rose to become an emperor, and Vanessa Kirby as the woman who ruled his heart. That film will hit theaters on November 22, before eventually joining "Killers of the Flower Moon" on Apple TV+.