After months of rumors, Leonardo DiCaprio is now confirmed to be reuniting with Quentin Tarantino for his upcoming movie set around the Manson family murders. Precisely what this film is about remains a mystery, as Tarantino has confusingly said that it’s not actually about the Manson murders, despite Manson victim Sharon Tate reportedly playing a central role in the narrative (and the film releasing on August 9th, the date she was killed).
Furthermore, the director has famously said he’ll only ever helm ten movies in his career, and as this will be his ninth, the film is currently being referred to as #9 in promotional circles. Whatever the content of it is, it’s recently kicked off an almighty bidding war amongst studios – unsurprisingly.
All of Tarantino’s past work has been distributed by The Weinstein Company and, well…nobody wants that guy’s name stuck on the front of their movie these days, so Quentin has shopped the film around Hollywood. After much buzz about the project, rumored to have a wider appeal than Tarantino’s previous effort, The Hateful Eight, Sony Pictures emerged the victor, granting the film a $100 million budget and a prime slot in the summer schedule.
As to what DiCaprio is doing in the pic, that’s even more speculative. Word is that he’s playing “an aging actor,” but as far as we know, that could just be scuttlebutt. However, his sheer presence will no doubt hype things up. Not only was his first appearance in a QT movie – Django Unchained – the high point of his career to date, but this will also be DiCaprio‘s first project since his Oscar-winning turn in The Revenant.
Whatever #9 is about, and whatever role Leo plays in it, it’s looking as if Tarantino’s new effort is set to blow our minds. With a summer release date, I’m sure shooting will begin imminently, at which point we’ll likely start to learn more about what exactly the director’s up to here.
