Is Killers of the Flower Moon based on a true story? Exploring the gruesome history of Osage Indian Murders 

Martin Scorsese's upcoming epic, Killers of the Flower Moon, will star Leonardo DiCaprio and is based on the tragic true story of the real-life Osage murders. The movie is an adaptation of David Grann's non-fiction bestseller of the same name and will investigate the murders of nearly twenty people from Oklahoma's Osage Tribe back in the 1920s.

An official synopsis for the film, as per Apple TV+, reads:

"Directed by Scorsese and written for the screen by Eric Roth and Scorsese, based on David Grann’s bestselling book of the same name, 'Killers of the Flower Moon' is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror.''

Killers of the Flower Moon is scheduled for a limited release on October 6, 2023, before premiering across North American theatres later that same month, on October 20. Apple is joining hands with Paramount for the film's worldwide release before eventually landing on Apple TV+.

Scorsese is bringing three iconic and Academy Award-winning actors to the film, including DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart, Robert De Niro as William Hale, and Brendan Fraser as W.S. Hamilton, among several other A-listers.

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Killers of the Flower Moon recounts the unfortunate events surrounding Mollie Burkhart's family and her husband's betrayal

Killers of the Flower Moon is based on a true story, as narrated in David Grann's 2016 book of the same name. Set in 1920s Oklahoma, the epic revolves around Ernest Burkhart (played by DiCaprio), a white man married to an Osage Tribe woman named Mollie Burkhart (played by Lily Gladstone). Burkhart's family played a crucial role in the Osage murders that rattled Oklahoma in the 1920s.

News outlet Entertainment Weekly reported that the Osage Nation were part of the forcibly removed Native American communities by the US government in the 19th century. The Osage people eventually settled in what was then referred to as the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Their people bought the reservation land via legal means - land that only belonged to them and could only be passed on as inheritance.

By the early 1920s, oil fields were discovered in the Osage land, and the tribes made major profits from the drilling that followed. However, oil-rich lands also attracted swindlers, con artists, and corrupt businessmen, as everyone desired a share of the wealth by hook or by crook.

Then came the first two murders in 1921, which ultimately culminated in the killings of 24 Osage people. The tribe often described the crimes as a "Reign of Terror." Multiple victims, all coming from wealth, were poisoned, some were shot, while others simply vanished. The list also included a white oil man and Osage ally, Barney McBride, and an attorney named W. W. Vaughan.

Grann's book tells the story of Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman whose family, including her mother and sisters, died under suspicious circumstances of what doctors called "peculiar wasting illnesses." Mollie's husband, Ernest Burkhart, his brother Bryan, and their uncle William Hale, are later revealed as the three suspects implicated in the killings of her family members.

In fact, the investigation caught the attention of J. Edgar Hoover, head of the newly initiated Bureau of Investigation (now known as the FBI). Hoover sent an agent named Tom White (Jesse Plemons) to the bureau's Oklahoma City office. There, White gathered a team for an undercover operation to investigate the matter.

White and his team then uncovered key evidence that incriminated William, Ernest, and Bryan in the murders of Mollie's family. These revelations also suggested that Ernest had even intended to kill Mollie, his wife, but failed. Several other individuals were named in the murders, and the case resulted in multiple convictions.

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The Killers of the Flower Moon team spent time with the Osage community while working on the epic

According to the Entertainment Weekly report, Martin Scorsese and the Killers of the Flower Moon team spent a great deal of time with Osage historians and tribal leaders while the film was in development stages.

Entertainment Weekly reported that after the film's world premiere on May 20 at the Cannes Film Festival, Chief Standing Bear, the current leader of the Osage Nation, made a statement, saying:

"My people suffered greatly, and to this very day, those effects are with us. But I can say, on behalf of the Osage, Marty Scorsese and his team have restored trust, and we know that trust will not be betrayed."

Scorsese, Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, and Daniel Lupi serve as producers in the film. Meanwhile, DiCaprio, Rick Yorn, Adam Sommer, Marianne Bower, Lisa Frechette, John Atwood, Shea Kammer, and Niels Juul are the executive producers.

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Killers of the Flower Moon will premiere in October 2023.