It’s completely understandable that Sharon Tate’s sister, Debra, was extremely critical of Quentin Tarantino’s plans for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. After all, the history of big screen adaptations of the Manson murders hasn’t been great – see 2014’s tasteless House of Manson or the 2017’s bottom-of-the-barrel Wolves at the Door.
As such, back in February, she came down hard on the project, saying the following:
“To [celebrities] it’s a paycheck and these people just don’t care. They are terribly hurtful to the actual family and all the living victims. They don’t give a shit”.
She reserved particular ire for stars Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, accusing them of “throwing all their social responsibility to the wind,” But, in a pretty heartwarming twist, she’s since come around after Tarantino contacted her directly to speak with her about her concerns, particularly the somewhat sensationalist planned release date of August 9th, 2019 – 50 years to the date of the Manson murders.
According to Cinema Blend, here’s what she said:
“I’m pleased he reached out. I thought it showed a lot of class and sensitivity to move up the release date. He has done nothing but respect me and be very forthcoming. I have very high hopes for this project.”
Perhaps in response to this, Tarantino agreed to move the release date up two weeks to July 26th, 2019 and has assured her that he’s going to portray her sister in a positive light. It screams class act all-round and neatly avoids accusations that the film’s seeking to exploit the tragedy of the situation. It’s entirely possible that Tarantino actually explained the angle that the pic’s going for to her, too – which we still don’t quite know yet.
What we do know is that Margot Robbie will play Sharon Tate, and that the film will star DiCaprio as a former Western TV actor who’s unfortunately fallen on hard times. Struggling to hit the Hollywood big leagues, he finds comfort in his longtime stunt double (Brad Pitt), though their story becomes all the more complicated when DiCaprio’s next door neighbor, Tate, is murdered. Cue the madness.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood beckons viewers into Tinsel Town on August 9th, 2019.
