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Make a movie date with 3 of Hollywood’s best men

Many of us have waited nearly a year to be able to go to the movies. We’re ready to get out of our pajamas and messy buns and get our butts off the couch. We’ve done enough streaming to last a lifetime! The fact that athleisure has become a wardrobe staple is proof enough we need to get dressed and go out

We are thrilled to *finally* get the chance as movie theaters in major cities––including New York City––are starting to reopen. That’s #Hollygood news. What makes it even better is the long list of movies set to release in theaters this spring and summer. You know what they say: good things come to those who wait.

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We’ll be there for every opening weekend – our couch deserves a break!

In addition to highly anticipated movies coming to theaters, films worldwide are resuming production after having to call it quits because of the pandemic. That means movies, movies, and more movies! And not just any movies, not just a sequel, not a this should have gone straight to streaming, not a *mindlessly scroll on your phone in the theater because you’re bored* movie. 

We’re talking real movie magic.  We might have been waiting a year to get back into movie theaters, but we’ve been waiting even longer to see three Hollywood legends work together. 

We’re at the edge of our couch––what’s the big news?!

Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, and Leonardo DiCaprio are resuming production of Killers of the Flower Moon after the film’s production was shut down for months due to the pandemic. 

The upcoming film is an adaptation of Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Indian Murders and the Birth of the FBI, a bestselling book from The New Yorker staff writer David Grann.

The true-crime book details a series of horrific murders of Osage people in Osage County, Oklahoma during the 1910s through the 1930s. It’s a story that’s considered “one of the most monstrous crimes in American history.”

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Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio met with Osage Nation cultural leaders last week to ensure that the story is an accurate portrayal of the Osage tribe’s experience.

As we recapped in an earlier article, Martin Scorsese shared his plan to include details of authentic Osage culture to “paint a full, truthful picture of the time and the people.” The film crew will be working with community advisors as the production starts moving.

What other celebs will we see in Killers of the Flower Moon?

Here’s a quick run-down of the cast so far:

Robert De Niro will play the villain as a powerful local rancher. 

Deadline reports that Leonardo DiCaprio will play a secondary lead as Ernest Burkhart, the nephew of Robert De Niro’s character, while Lily Gladstone takes on the role of Mollie Burkhart, an Osage married to Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, actor Jesse Plemons will play Tom White, “the lead FBI agent investigating the murders.” Jesse Plemons recently played an FBI agent in the Golden Globe-nominated movie Judas and the Black Messiah.

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Killers of the Flower Moon is the Hollywood threesome we’ve been waiting for

Would you believe it’s the first time that Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Robert De Niro––three of Hollywood’s most talented men––are working together on a feature-length film?

Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are often celebrated for their collaborations with the award-winning director, but it’s the first time all three Hollywood greats are working together on one feature-length production.

There is one 16-minute exception! In 2015, the trio worked together on a short-film called The Audition where Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro play fictional versions of themselves. The pair competes against each other for a coveted role in Martin Scorsese’s next film.

*Spoiler alert: In the end, Martin Scorsese determines that neither actor is right for the role, and the film concludes with Brad Pitt being chosen instead (lol).

Looks like life doesn’t always imitate art since Martin Scorsese decided to work with both actors on Killers of the Flower Moon. We wonder how Brad Pitt feels about being left out?!

Breaking down all of the Scorsese movies with Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro, Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio
David Edwards

It seems as if this Hollywood threesome has been years in the making.

Now, let’s break down all of the Martin Scorsese films with each celeb actor.

Robert De Niro movies directed by Martin Scorsese

Source: Wikipedia

1973: Mean Streets

Robert De Niro plays Johnny Boy, “a small-time gambler in big-time debt to loan sharks.” Warner Brothers Studios describes this De Niro movie as “a story Martin Scorsese lived, a semi-biographical tale of the first-generation sons and daughters of New York’s Little Italy.” The film was Robert De Niro’s breakthrough role––he won the National Society of Film Critics award for Best Supporting Actor. Buy or rent now on Amazon.

1976: Taxi Driver

“You talkin’ to me?” Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro team up again for this NYC-based movie. The film’s trailer says how “Robert De Niro creates a terrifying portrait of life on the edge of madness.” Anyone who has seen this classic Martin Scorsese movie can agree. Watch now on Netflix.

1977: New York, New York

The bromance continues with this 1977 film starring Liza Minnelli alongside Robert De Niro. Set in “the glorious days of the Big Band Era in the Big Apple,” Robert De Niro plays Jimmy, a saxophonist on his way to stardom who falls in love with Francine (played by Liza Minnelli). Buy now on Amazon.

1980: Raging Bull

Robert De Niro won the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama playing Jake LaMotta, a “controversial 1940s prize fighter whose brutality transcended beyond the ring.” Buy or rent now on Amazon.

1983: The King of Comedy

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro team up yet again for this “dark satire as a desperate comedian who kidnaps his TV idol (Jerry Lewis) in an attempt to claim the spotlight for himself.” Buy or rent now on Amazon.

1990: Goodfellas

“Gangsters never refer to themselves as gangsters. They are made-men, wiseguys or Goodfellas.” Martin Scorsese explores the dark and violent world of New York’s Mafia families in this Oscar-winning crime drama based on the best selling book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi. Buy or rent now on Youtube Movies.

1991: Cape Fear

This psychological crime thriller is a remake of the 1962 film of the same name. It follows Max Cady (played by Robert De Niro), a convicted rapist who seeks revenge against the public defender who put him in prison for 14 years. Watch now on Peacock TV.

1995: Casino

In our 2016 ranking of Robert De Niro movies, we put Casino at #6, saying Robert De Niro’s role as Ace “sheds the persona of a psychopath that was continually prevalent in his earlier films. Instead, Ace is strictly a professional. What makes his performance so great, is the fact that De Niro is able to let the audience see the anger that Ace is dealing with as it bubbles just under the surface. However, he never allows himself to outwardly express it.” Buy or rent now on Amazon.

2019: The Irishman

This Netflix film, which Robert De Niro claims that Netflix saved, is “an epic saga of organized crime in post-war America told through the eyes of World War II veteran Frank Sheeran, a hustler and hitman who worked alongside some of the most notorious figures of the 20th century.” Did you know Robert De Niro had to wear platform shoes to appear taller? Watch now on Netflix.

View interview footage of Robert De Niro’s Irishman premiere here: 

Here’s a bonus: both Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese voiced characters in the 2004 animated film Shark Tale. According to Wikipedia, Robert De Niro voiced Don Lino, a leader of a white shark mob while Martin Scorsese voiced Sykes, a literal loan shark.

Leonardo DiCaprio movies directed by Martin Scorsese

Source: Wikipedia

2002: Gangs of New York

Apparently, Leonardo DiCaprio “begged” Martin Scorsese to include him in this 2002 film. In a 2014 a New York Film Society retrospective event focusing on his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio said, “The truth of the matter is, it’s really been this kind of amazing relationship since then. We found we shared similar interests and we had similar tastes in the kind of stuff we wanted to do. And the way we executed that, it’s really been beyond my wildest dream to have done five films with him now.” Watch on Amazon with a Cinemax add-on.

2004: The Aviator

Leonardo DiCaprio plays Howard Hughes, a wealthy industrialist who became famous as a multi-talented movie producer, airplane designer, and pilot in the 1930s and 1940s. Watch on Amazon with a CBS All Access trial.

2006: The Departed

Set in Boston, Leonardo DiCaprio plays William “Billy” Costigan, a rookie cop ordered to infiltrate an Irish mob. Martin Scorsese won Best Director at the 79th Academy Awards and the film won three more categories: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing. Watch now on Netflix.

2010: Shutter Island

Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese teamed up yet again for this psychological thriller set at a hospital for the criminally insane. Watch now on Netflix.

2013: The Wolf of Wall Street

In an interview leading up to the film’s premiere, Martin Scorsese claims that Leonardo DiCaprio brought him this film, saying “if he’s really interested in something, it’s usually stuff that I would be interested in.” Seems like Leonardo DiCaprio was right! Buy or rent on Amazon and check out these 16 things you didn’t know about The Wolf of Wall Street.

We might have Robert De Niro to thank for Leonardo DiCaprio’s collaborations with Martin Scorsese

Turns out, Robert De Niro may be the reason why Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese collaborated so many times over the years.

If you think Leonardo DiCaprio joining the Titanic cast was his breakout role, you’re wrong. Remember the young 90s Leonardo DiCaprio starring alongside Robert De Niro in the 1993 film This Boy’s Life? People are still talking about it over 25 years later: 

Turns out, Martin Scorsese claims that Robert De Niro tipped him off to Leonardo DiCaprio’s talent shortly after This Boy’s Life premiered. In 2014, we shared these words from Martin Scorsese:

Robert De Niro told me, ‘By the way, I’m working with this young kid. He’s really good. You should work with him sometime. His name is DiCaprio.’ And I said, ‘OK.’ The last collaboration I did with De Niro was [1995 film] Casino…We don’t see each other that often. So, for him to recommend somebody, out of the blue, that way to me, during a phone call, was very, very special.”

Killers of the Flower Moon marks the first time since the 1990s that Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro are working together. 

While Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese win for the bigger bromance, with eight feature length films (nine if you count Shark Tale) compared to Leonardo DiCaprio’s five, it seems like this trio is simply *destined* to work together.

Killers of the Flower Moon is set to begin production in May 2021. Check back here for updates including a trailer, release date, and more.

More Like This: Scorsese & DiCaprio met with Osage Nation to accurately portray cultural details in upcoming movie

More Like This: See the cast of Titanic then and now

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