Update: Leonardo DiCaprio has signed on to star in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film, according to Deadline. The role, his first since winning an Oscar for The Revenant in 2016, will see DiCaprio playing "an aging actor in the story that is being kept under wraps, but is a Pulp Fiction-esque movie set in the 1969 Los Angeles during the summer of the Manson murders." No other cast members are slated as of yet, although Margot Robbie is eyed to play Sharon Tate; Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt are also rumoured to be in negotiations to star in the film.
Original post below:
Long before filming even began, the script to Quentin Tarantino's last movie somehow leaked onto the Internet. Tarantino was outraged, considering he'd only given the script to a handful of people, one of whom must have betrayed him. In response, he immediately canceled the movie, attempting to find out who did it. Eventually, though, his anger subsided and he actually made The Hateful Eight.
Now, it appears something like this has happened again, as Vanity Fair has a more detailed plot synopsis, according to an anonymous source who has read the script:
Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, Tarantino’s upcoming movie, according to a source who read the script, focuses on a male TV actor who’s had one hit series and his looking for a way to get into the film business. His sidekick—who’s also his stunt double—is looking for the same thing. The horrific murder of Sharon Tate and four of her friends by Charles Manson’s cult of followers serves as a backdrop to the main story. Deadline says Tarantino wants Margot Robbie, currently enjoying accolades for her role as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, for the role of Tate.
While this is still vague, it's more than we knew before, with many fans assuming it was a film about Charles Manson. Tarantino dispelled those rumors a few weeks ago, telling a reporter that “It’s not Charles Manson, it’s 1969.”
Certainly, it's weird timing, seeing as Manson died on Sunday from natural causes.
The film will be produced by Sony after Tarantino parted ways with his longtime collaborator, the disgraced Harvey Weinstein. According to Vanity Fair, Tarantino is looking for a $100 million budget and hopes to start shooting in L.A. in June with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio being considered for the lead.
Matt Miller is a Brooklyn-based culture/lifestyle writer and music critic whose work has appeared in Esquire, Forbes, The Denver Post, and documentaries.
