Martin Scorsese Broke A 38 Year Record With $158 Million Epic That Went 0 For 10 At The Oscars

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Killers of the Flower Moon

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Martin Scorsese talking in a documentary The Oratario

At the 2024 Academy Awards, Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon lost all 10 of its nominations, yet the movie still managed to break an impressive Oscars record. Based on a non-fiction book of the same name, Killers of the Flower Moon tells the true story of a string of murders committed against the Osage Nation in 1920s Oklahoma. With Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in the leads, this epic drummed up quite a bit of attention at the end of 2023. Yet, despite its star-studded cast and legendary director, the film came out of the Oscars empty-handed.

In total, Killers of the Flower Moon was up for ten awards at the 2024 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song. Ultimately, the movie was overshadowed by other large scale movies, including Oppenheimer, Poor Things, and Anatomy of a Fall. However, none of these films came close to breaking the record that Killers of the Flower Moon did break, courtesy of its director, Martin Scorsese.

Martin Scorsese Became The Oldest Best Director Oscar Nominee With Killers Of The Flower Moon

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Regardless of who took home the golden statues that night, Killers of the Flower Moon did come away with one very notable success. In 2024, Scorsese became the oldest Best Director nominee ever at the Academy Awards. Scorsese was 81-years-old, putting him way above his competition, including Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Glazer, Justine Triet, and Yorgos Lanthimos. Scorsese has already established himself as one of the great directors of his time, but this achievement is still a significant one. It proves that, regardless of time and age, Scorsese still has what it takes to create incredible films.

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What makes this accomplishment even more notable is that Scorsese broke a streak that had lasted 38 years. Before Scorsese became the oldest Best Director nominee, director John Huston held that title for his movie, Prizzi's Honor, which was nominated back in 1985. Huston was 79 at the time, which Scorsese beat by two years. Alongside Scorsese and Huston, other directors who are among the oldest Academy Award nominees include Charles Crichton, Robert Altman, Woody Allen, and Steven Spielberg.

Martin Scorsese Missed Out On Breaking Clint Eastwood's Best Director Oscar Winner Record

Clint Eastwood Could Break His Own Record In 2025

Clint Eastwood grimacing in Gran Torino

Apart from the fact that Scorsese became the oldest Best Director nominee, if he had won the category, he would have become the oldest Best Director winner. At the moment, Clint Eastwood holds this title after winning in 2004 for Million Dollar Baby. He was 74-years-old when he won. Beneath him, Roman Polanski won at 69 for The Pianist and Jane Campion at 67 for The Power of the Dog. To see Scorsese win, seven years older than Eastwood, would have been a truly outstanding accomplishment.

Eastwood is currently 94-years-old, which would make this achievement even more astonishing.

As it turns out though, Eastwood's record may be broken anyway, and by Eastwood himself. This year, the iconic director released his newest movie, Juror #2. Although the film has gone somewhat under the radar, it has garnered a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it a potential candidate for Oscar nominations. Eastwood is currently 94-years-old, which would make this achievement even more astonishing. Perhaps, Killers of the Flower Moon started a trend for older directors.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Killers of the Flower Moon is the next film from director Martin Scorsese, based on the non-fiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI, initially captured by David Grann. When members of the Osage tribe are murdered in the 1920s via mysterious circumstances shortly after the discovery of oil on Native-American soil, the FBI is established to uncover the true reason behind them.

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