The two lead characters are Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), former star of a western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt).
According to Tarantino via Sony, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is "a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood. The murder of Sharon Tate and her friends by the hands of Charles Manson's murderous family is the backdrop to the main story.
According to Variety, the plot involves a male TV actor and his stunt double sidekick looking for a way into the movie biz after one hit series. The film will carry a budget in the range of Django Unchained." (Deadline). "Those who’ve read it said the script has heart and a strong commercial appeal, and if there is a film of Tarantino’s it can be best compared to, it would be Pulp Fiction, which also was set in Los Angeles. Tarantino has repeatedly stated that the movie is not about Charles Manson, but one of his victims, Sharon Tate, seems to be a main character in the story. It was the night when, as Joan Didion famously wrote, “the sixties ended abruptly . . . the tension broke . . . the paranoia was fulfilled.” Once Upon a Time.in Hollywood is a film that vibrates with ambition, with the entire cast performing at the height of their talent, inside a brilliant story." The stories of Rick, Cliff, and Tate unfold over three days or, as Tarantino says, in three acts: February 8, February 9, and, finally, August 8-the night when Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) dispatched four members of his “Family” to the house next to Rick’s on Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, where they found Tate, hairdresser Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch), and three others. His new neighbors, it turns out, are the golden girl of the moment, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), and her husband, Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha), who is, thanks to Rosemary’s Baby, the hottest director in town.
Then, one night, Rick realizes he might just be one pool party away from turning his career around. (Meanwhile, Rick’s agent, played by Al Pacino, is trying to get him to do a spaghetti western). About the only thing he can count on is the friendship of his longtime stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Rick has, through a combination of ego and dumb decisions, blown his chance to cross over into movie stardom like Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis). It’s against this background that we meet Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a declining star and a veteran of TV westerns. It’s the year Easy Rider and Midnight Cowboy and The Wild Bunch break big-films that celebrate the antihero and upend the definition of what a matinee idol looks like. The original studio system, which has been a source of stability and structure for fifty years, is collapsing as the under-thirty counterculture rejects traditional plotlines and traditional leading men. Synopsis (from Esquire magazine): "It’s 1969, a year of tremendous upheaval, not just in America’s streets but also on the backlots of Hollywood. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple storylines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age. Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The title was revealed on February 29th 2018 as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.Įxperience a version of 1969 that could only happen Once Upon A Time In.
The full story is currently unknown, what is known is that the film is set in Los Angeles in 1969 (see below). 9 aka OUATIH) is Quentin Tarantino's upcoming and ninth motion picture. Hollywood (working title: #9 aka Untitled #9 aka No.