Paramount Sets French Theatrical Release For ‘Killers Of The Flower Moon’; Move Ties Film Into 17-Month, Cinema-To-Streamer Window

Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio in 'Killers of the Flower Moon'
Apple TV+ /Courtesy Everett Collection

Paramount will give Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon a theatrical release in France from October 18, Deadline has confirmed, in a move that will make the film subject to the country’s strict windowing rules.

Paramount Pictures France revealed the local theatrical date on Tuesday in an updated line-up posted on its website and Deadline has confirmed the film will get a normal release via the distributor and then go directly to Apple TV+.

Apple Orginal Films announced Monday that Killers Of The Flower Moon will be released exclusively in theaters worldwide in partnership with Paramount Pictures, kicking off on a limited basis from October 6, to go wide from October 20, ahead of streaming on Apple TV+.

There were questions as to whether the film would show in cinemas in France, where current media chronology laws stipulate a 17-month window between a film’s theatrical launch and its streaming release for most global platforms, including Apple TV+.

Netflix has negotiated a 15-month window by pledging extra investment for local feature films and signing an accord with the local film and TV guilds. Other streamers such as Apple TV+, Amazon and Disney+ have yet to go down that route.

Scorsese has a big following in cinephile France but his Netflix-backed The Irishman only received two preview screenings in France – at Cannes Delegate General Thierry Frémaux’s Lumière Festival in Lyon and the French cinematheque in Paris – ahead of its release via streaming in November 2019.

This was in contrast to the U.S. and the UK where the film was given limited releases.

Expectations remain high that Killers Of The Flower Moon, about the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma, will world premiere at Cannes in May.

Confirmation of the French theatrical release opens the door for Killers Of The Flower Moon to play in Competition, if indeed, the film has been made available to Cannes, and the festival and Scorsese want to go down that route.

Under Cannes rules, which are in step with the French windowing laws, only films guaranteed a theatrical release in France can compete for the festival’s coveted Palme d’Or, a stipulation that has kept Netflix and its top titles away from the Croisette in recent years.