With ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ Apple Signals Bet on Cinemas (1)

At the Cannes Film Festival, red carpets are unfurled to receive Hollywood’s most important figures. At the premiere of Killers of the Flower Moon in late May, that included director Martin Scorsese and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

And, for the first time, Tim Cook, chief executive officer of Apple Inc. The iPhone maker financed and produced the three-and-a-half-hour film, which is based on a book by David Grann about the 1920s murder of Osage Native American tribe members after oil was found on their land.

The movie, due out on Oct. 20, is the most ...