Here's Why Paramount Backed Out Of Martin Scorsese's 'Killers Of The Flower Moon'

A few days ago it was announced that tech giant Apple would be financing Martin Scorsese’s upcoming movie “Killers Of The Flower Moon” and the film will be labeled as an Amazon Original when it hits theaters.

Paramount Pictures, the studio that was originally slated to finance the project, had serious issues with the film’s budget and told Scorsese to find another financer. But what was the actual reason why Paramount changed its initial plan of financing the project?

According to a report by the Hollywood Reporter, the production company changed its mind when it found out that the “Irishman” filmmaker and Leonardo DiCaprio did some changes to the script of the movie.

Sources told the media outlet that DiCaprio was originally slated to play the good guy. But after making changes, the Academy Award-winning star would go on to play the nephew of Robert De Niro’s character.

The insider also noted that the studio was not ready for this and felt that the changes in the script made the movie less commercial.

The report also suggested that Paramount also tried bluffing and hoped that no studio would finance the film, forcing Scorsese to lower the budget. But Apple jumped in and decided to finance the whole project, which is expected to be more than $200 million.

The movie, based on the novel “Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and The Birth Of FBI,” is written by David Grann. The story revolves around the brutal murders of the Osage tribe in the U.S. that led to an FBI investigation.

Recently, the Oscar-winning filmmaker revealed that the tone for his upcoming film has been set and he thinks it will be the first “Western” movie he will be working on in his illustrious career. The movie is set in the year 1921 and will be focusing on the lives of the Indian tribe.

The project, which has been in the making since 2017, was expected to begin shooting in March 2020. But the ongoing coronavirus pandemic forced the makers to take a step back and only return to filming when the situation gets better.

“Killers Of The Flower Moon” will hit theaters in 2021.