In just over a month, Martin Scorsese’s 26th feature film, Killers of the Flower Moon will hit theaters. The highly anticipated movie encountered numerous delays and rewrites before finally premiering at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.
Scorsese co-wrote the screenplay for Killers of the Flower Moon with Academy Award winner Eric Roth based on David Grann’s 2017 book of the same name.
The book was a No. 1 New York Times bestseller when it was released, and sits atop the list again this week. It’s also climbing the bestseller charts on Amazon, in both “most read” and “most sold” categories.
It’s actually the second time this year a nonfiction book that inspired a big movie climed the charts on Amazon — the first being American Prometheus, the basis for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer screenplay.
For a limited time, you can get a copy of Killers of the Flower Moon from Amazon for 32% off, bringing the total price down to $11.51.
Grann’s book (and Scorsese’s film) is about the true story of the Osage Indian murders — also known as the Reign of Terror — which began in 1921 and ended in 1926. The book and film both use Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone in the film) as a central figure, as many of the murders committed were against members of her family. Where the two will reportedly differ is that the book takes a more well-rounded look at the murders and the agent who eventually solved them, Tom White (Jesse Plemons).
Characters played by Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio — William Hale and Ernest Burkhart, respectively — are also major players in the time period and the film reportedly focuses on these relationships (particularly Mollie and Ernest Burkhart’s marriage) more than the thread of White solving the case.
Should I Read Killers of the Flower Moon Before Seeing The Movie?
Honestly, it’s up to your personal preference! If you want to go into Killers of the Flower Moon knowing as little as possible, it’d probably be a good idea to hold off until you’ve seen the movie.
If you don’t mind knowing the details of the crimes before checking out the movie, the book will likely provide a lot of additional context, considering the scope of it is much larger than the film’s — even despite the 3.5 hour run time.
Grann’s writing is engaging and the book reads like a well-done whodunit despite being a work of reported nonfiction.
No matter when you choose to read Killers of the Flower Moon, the bottom line is this: you should definitely read it eventually.
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