Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is an upcoming mystery crime film centered on the Manson Family murders. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. The film is a British-American venture produced by Columbia Pictures and Heyday Films, and is scheduled for release on July 26, 2019.

Premise

A TV actor and his stunt double embark on an odyssey to make a name for themselves in the film industry in 1969 Los Angeles, around the time of the Charles Manson murders.^[3]

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton:
  An actor who starred in the Western television series Bounty Law from 1958 to 1963. His attempt to transition to movies did not work out and in 1969, he is struggling, guesting on other people's shows while contemplating going to Italy, which had become a hotbed for low-budget Westerns. He is neighbors with Sharon Tate.
• Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth:
  Rick's longtime stunt double and close friend.
• Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate:
  A glamorous, pregnant actress married to director Roman Polanski. Tate was murdered in her home by followers of Charles Manson.
• Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen:
  An actor and friend of Jay Sebring, who was invited by him to Sharon Tate's home for a dinner party the night of the Tate murders, but he was unable to show up.
• Luke Perry as Wayne Maunder:
  An actor who co-starred on the western television series Lancer.
• Emile Hirsch as Jay Sebring:
  A Hollywood hairstylist and friend of Sharon Tate who was murdered in Tate's home by followers of Charles Manson.
• Dakota Fanning as Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme:
  A member of the infamous "Manson family" who obtained her nickname while living on George Spahn's ranch. She was not directly involved in the Tate murders.
• Clifton Collins Jr. as Ernesto "The Mexican" Vaquero
• Nicholas Hammond as Sam Wanamaker:
  An actor-director who, in 1969, began a campaign to rebuild the Shakespeare's Globe in London.
• Al Pacino as Marvin Shwarz:
  Rick Dalton's agent.
• Scoot McNairy as Business Bob Gilbert:
  A fictional cowboy character on Bounty Law.
• Spencer Garrett as Allen Kincade:
  The television personality and interviewer to Hollywood’s elite.
• Mike Moh as Bruce Lee:
  The international actor-stuntman who choreographed fight scenes for The Wrecking Crew, which starred Sharon Tate. Following the Tate murders, Lee attended her funeral and was also privately investigated.
• Keith Jefferson as Land Pirate Keith
• Eddie Perez as Land Pirate Eddie
• Maurice Compte as Land Pirate Mao
• Lew Temple as Land Pirate Lew
• Lena Dunham as Catherine Share:
  A member of the "Manson family" who was not directly involved with the Tate murders.
• Austin Butler as Charles "Tex" Watson:
  A central member of the "Manson family" who, alongside three other members, was directly involved in the Tate murders.
• Maya Hawke as Flower Child
• Lorenza Izzo as Francesca Cappuci
• Rafał Zawierucha as Roman Polanski:
  An acclaimed filmmaker and Tate's husband, who was in Europe working on a film when Tate was murdered.
• Samantha Robinson as Abigail Folger:
  Wojciech Frykowski‘s lover, as well as heiress to the Folger coffee fortune. She was murdered in Tate's home by followers of Charles Manson.
• Damon Herriman as Charles Manson:
  The infamous leader of the "Manson Family", who ordered the murder of Sharon Tate and her friends.
• Rumer Willis as Joanna Pettet:
  An actress and friend of Sharon Tate, who had lunch at Tate’s home, mere hours before the murders took place.
• Dreama Walker as Connie Stevens:
  An actress who lived near Sharon Tate.
• Costa Ronin as Wojciech Frykowski:
  A screenwriter and friend of Roman Polanski, who, alongside his lover Abigail Folger, was murdered in Tate's home by followers of Charles Manson.
• Margaret Qualley as Kitty Kat
• Victoria Pedretti as Lulu
• Madisen Beaty as Katie
• Bruce Dern as George Spahn:
  An 80-year-old nearly blind man who rented his Los Angeles ranch out to be used as a location for Westerns. Manson convinced Spahn to allow him and his followers to live on the ranch, in the months before they murdered Sharon Tate and six others. In exchange for rent, Manson coerced his female followers into having sexual relations with the ranch owner, and serving as his seeing-eye guides. Burt Reynolds was initially cast in the role, but died before his scenes could be filmed.^[4][5]

Additionally, Zoë Bell, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Kurt Russell, Timothy Olyphant, James Marsden, Michael Vincent McHugh, Julia Butters, James Remar, Martin Kove, Brenda Vaccaro, Nichole Galicia, Craig Stark, Marco Rodríguez, Ramón Franco, Raul Cardona, Danny Strong, Sydney Sweeney, Clu Gulager, and Mikey Madison have all been cast in unspecified roles.

Production

On July 11, 2017, it was announced that Quentin Tarantino had written a screenplay for a film about the Manson Family murders, which he would direct as his next project. Harvey and Bob Weinstein would be involved but it was not known whether their studio, The Weinstein Company, would distribute the film as Tarantino sought to cast the film before sending out a package to studios. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence were revealed to be two names Tarantino had approached to star in the film.^[6] On the same day, it was separately reported that Margot Robbie was in talks to potentially portray actress Sharon Tate, Samuel L. Jackson was also in talks to portray a major role, and that Pitt was in talks to portray the detective investigating the murders.^[7]

In wake of the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations, Tarantino severed ties with The Weinstein Company, and sought a new distributor, after having worked with Weinstein for his entire career. At this point Leonardo DiCaprio was revealed to be among the actors Tarantino was considering for the film.^[8] A short time later, there were reports that the studios were still bidding for the film set in Los Angeles in the late 1960s and early 1970s, that Tom Cruise was also in talks for one of two lead male roles, and David Heyman had joined the film as a producer, who would produce along with Tarantino and Shannon McIntosh.^[9] On November 11, 2017, Sony Pictures announced they would be distributing the film, having beaten Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Annapurna Pictures and Lionsgate for the rights.^[10] In order to secure the rights to distribute the film, Sony Pictures had to agree to Tarantino's demands, which included "a $95 million production budget, final cut and "extraordinary creative controls," plus 25% of first-dollar gross.^[11] Another demand was that the rights to the movie revert to him after 10 to 20 years."^[12] During a publicity interview by The Hollywood Reporter, Margot Robbie, when inquired about her potential involvement in the Tarantino-helmed film, noted that "Nothing's official … but I would kill to work with him."^[13]

In January 2018, DiCaprio signed to star in the film, taking a pay cut in order to collaborate with Tarantino again.^[14][15] Also revealed was that Pitt and Cruise had been up for the same role, that of a "prosecutor", but Pitt had to pass due to scheduling conflicts, so the role was Cruise's if he wanted it.^[16] On February 28, 2018, the film was officially titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with Pitt cast in a different role.^[17] In March 2018, Robbie signed to co-star in the film as Sharon Tate, while Zoë Bell confirmed that she would also appear in the film.^[18][19][20] In May 2018, Burt Reynolds, Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, and Michael Madsen joined the cast with the latter three in small roles.^[21] Timothy Olyphant was also cast.^[22] In June 2018, Damian Lewis, Luke Perry, Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, Clifton Collins Jr., Keith Jefferson, Nicholas Hammond, Al Pacino, and Scoot McNairy joined the cast.^[23][24][25] Actress Jameela Jamil used Twitter to condemn the casting of Hirsch, who had been cast as Jay Sebring two days prior, as he had assaulted her friend, studio executive Daniele Bernfeld during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. Hirsch had been convicted and sentenced to 15 days in jail. Jamil asserted the casting as being a case of "rich white male privelege" [sic].^[26][27]

Additional casting which included the additions of Spencer Garrett, James Remar, Brenda Vaccaro and Mike Moh was announced in July.^[28] In August 2018, additional castings were made, including Damon Herriman as Charles Manson, and Lena Dunham, Austin Butler, Danny Strong, Rumer Willis, Dreama Walker, and Margaret Qualley cast in supporting roles.^{[29][30][31][32]} On June 8, 2018, Yahoo! reported that the casting choices were criticized by "some movie fans" for their lack of racial diversity.^[33][34]

Principal photography began on June 18, 2018, in Los Angeles, California and will wrap in November 2018.^[35]

Release

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is scheduled to be released July 26, 2019 by Sony Pictures.^[36] The film was originally scheduled for release on August 9 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Tate–LaBianca murders.^[37]

References

External links

• Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on IMDb