Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, the ninth feature film from the great Quentin Tarantino, continues to rack up one big name after another in what is quickly becoming one of the most buzzworthy casting sprees in recent memory.
After landing two venerable powerhouses in Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt – for the record, Margot Robbie is still negotiating for the role of Sharon Tate – Sony’s period piece has now added The Hateful Eight trio Tim Roth, Kurt Russell, and Michael Madsen. And as if that wasn’t exciting enough, Deadline also notes that former Boogie Nights star Burt Reynolds is circling the plum role of George Spahn.
Still no mention of a possible actor to play Charles Manson – word is he’ll hold a small cameo role in the finished drama – though Spahn will no doubt be a prominent player for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He’s a real-life character in QT’s original story; a partially blind 80-year-old man who “rented his LA ranch out to be used as the location for Westerns. Charlie 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.” And therein lies the connection to the murders.
This A-list ensemble cast will certainly ignite interest in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, particularly as Tarantino nears the end of his filmmaking career. And you can’t fault him for wanting to go out with a bang.
And so, with QT regulars from the likes of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and The Hateful Eight all on board, we understand the 1960s-set period piece unfolds like so:
It takes place during the 1969 Hollywood era at the height of the counterculture explosion, at the time of the hippie revolution…During the summer, little by little, block by block, we’ll be transforming Los Angeles in the psychedelic Hollywood of 1969.
Touting a budget close to $100 million, Sony plans to release Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on August 9th, 2019 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Tate murders.
