Martin Scorsese’s big-budget western drama is set to begin production in May.
Jesse Plemons signed on for a lead role in Martin Scrosese’s big-budget western drama, “Killers of the Flower Moon”, in a cast move that brings the pair together after their work on “The Irishman”. The Plemons cast confirms last year’s reports that the “Flower Moon” script was undergoing a drastic review, which is one of the reasons why Paramount sold the film to Apple, since the changes to the script are supposed made the film “less commercial”.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Plemons will play Tom White, the lead FBI agent who investigates the murders.” Tom White’s role was originally written for Leonardo DiCaprio when the film was being developed for Paramount, the idea was to have DiCaprio as the film’s traditional good guy. As THR adds: “Plemons is now in a role that originally would have been played by DiCaprio before the Oscar winner moved on to a secondary role.”
During the development of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” DiCaprio pressed for his role to change from Tom White to the nephew of the main antagonist in the film, played by Robert De Niro. As THR reported last May: “Paramount felt [the character change] turned the film into a study of a temperamental and less commercial character. … As soon as Scorsese and DiCaprio reviewed ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’, Paramount authorized former DiCaprio manager Rick Yorn to buy the project. “
As soon as Apple stepped in to take funding for the film from Paramount, the changes to the script echoed DiCaprio’s original concerns. THR now confirms that DiCaprio is scheduled to play Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of a powerful local farmer (DeNiro). The escape of “certain women”, Lily Gladstone, is on board as Mollie Burkhart, an Osage married to Ernest.
During a podcast appearance last November, “Flower Moon” screenwriter Eric Roth hinted at the drama of the script, saying, “This should start shooting in March, once Covid runs out, and it’s Martin Scorsese. They will continue to rewrite with that. Leonardo [DiCaprio] I wanted to change some things that we discussed. He won half of [the arguments]. I won half of them. So this is happening. “
“Flower Moon” was originally scheduled to begin production in March 2020, but will now begin shooting in May and will run until the end of the summer. THR reports that Plemons was also offered a lead role in Jordan Peele’s new film, but scheduling conflicts prevented him from starring in both films.
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