At the 2024 Academy Awards, Martin Scorsese’sKillers of the Flower Moonlost 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 Moontells the true storyof 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 Moonwas up for ten awards atthe 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, includingOppenheimer, Poor Things,andAnatomy of a Fall.However,none of these films came close to breaking the record thatKillers of the Flower Moondid 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 Moondid 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 thatScorsese 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 theoldest 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
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 forMillion Dollar Baby.He was 74-years-old when he won. Beneath him, Roman Polanski won at 69 forThe Pianistand Jane Campion at 67 forThe 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 directorreleased 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 Moonstarted a trend for older directors.
Killers of the Flower Moon
Cast
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.
