While promoting the 2023 Tribeca Festival, De Niro reflected on the success of 'Killers of the Flower Moon.'
Ahead of the 2023 Tribeca Festival in June, Robert De Niro made a splash at the 76th annual Cannes Film Festival, where the Oscar-winner's 45-year-old girlfriend, Tiffany Chen, made her debut on the carpet. Additionally, the actor's latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, made quite the impression on audiences during its world premiere.
"It was great," De Niro told ET's Rachel Smith about walking the carpet at the Cannes event with Chen in May. It marked their first public event after the 79-year-old star recently revealed she gave birth to his seventh child, a daughter named Gia.
"Yeah. Well, it's crazy. But organized crazy," the actor said when asked if Chen enjoyed stepping out with him at the event, where they debuted his new film. "It's a lot. I'm sort of used to it. I've been before, but it's great," he continued.
Of course, the big news that came out of Cannes was the fact that Killers of the Flower Moon received a nine-minute standing ovation following its premiere.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, who also co-wrote the true-crime drama with Eric Roth, the three-hour epic recounts the serial killings of the Osage Nation living in Oklahoma during the 1920s after oil was discovered on their tribal land. The film stars De Niro, marking his eleventh collaboration with the director, as one of the key historical figures in the story alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser and Lily Gladstone.
"We were very happy," De Niro said of the reception, adding, "Listen, I'd rather be standing there for nine minutes for standing ovations as opposed to being booed for nine minutes. Because that audience, the audience at Cannes are known for that booing."
Of course, the same cannot be said for attendees at the Tribeca Festival, an annual event De Niro first co-founded in 2002 with Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff to promote economic and cultural revitalization of Lower Manhattan following the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.
This year's event will open with a screening of the feature documentary, Kiss the Future, from producers Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Affleck's wife, Jennifer Lopez, meanwhile, opened the 2022 event with her Netflix documentary, Halftime.
"They tell great stories and they tell unusual stories," Rosenthal said of choosing them to kick off the festival, before adding that the 2023 lineup includes "so many more great documentaries, a documentary about bringing in comedians and a lot of great music docs [about] French Montana, Cyndi Lauper, the Indigo Girls."
"So, it's just gonna be a fun festival," she added.
That also includes a 30th anniversary screening of A Bronx Tale, which will close out the festival. The coming-of-age crime drama marked De Niro's first time behind the camera.
When asked about the possibility of helming another film, especially after reflecting on his previous work and seeing how Killers of the Flower Moon was received, De Niro was unsure about if it will happen again. "I don't know. It takes a lot of work," he offered. "It's great. [You] just have to find something you want to spend that much time on. I love directing and who knows."
In addition to the special screening of A Bronx Tale, the festival will feature 109 feature films from 127 filmmakers across 36 countries. There will be 93 world premieres, one international premiere, eight North American premieres, one U.S. premiere and six New York premieres.
The 2023 Tribeca Festival takes place from Wednesday June 7 to Sunday, June 18.
RELATED CONTENT
