We’re starting to learn more about Quentin Tarantino’s next film, an untitled period film set in 1969 with the Manson Family’s murderous rampage as the backdrop. There’s only one official piece of casting so far and it was Leonardo DiCaprio, reuniting with his Django Unchained for a role we knew precious little about. Until now, that is.
Deadline has an update on the plot we’re already familiar with, that of a TV actor and his stuntman/sidekick who are trying to break into the movie business. The Manson killings of Sharon Tate and her friends is the ominious backdrop to the story. Here is what’s new, straight from Deadline’s Mike Fleming:
What he plays, more specifically, is an actor who had his own Western show, Bounty Law, that ran on the air from 1958 to 1963. His attempt to transition to movies didn’t work out and in 1969 — the film is set at the height of hippy Hollywood movement– he’s guesting on other people’s shows while contemplating going to Italy which has become a hotbed for low-budget Westerns.
Fleming would add that it’s a “Pulp Fiction-esque tapestry of Los Angeles during the summer of the Manson murders”. Other than the Pulp Fiction reference this sounds like a return to “reality” of sorts for Tarantino, after a series of movies that were extreme alternate takes on history.
Casting is expected to ramp up soon, and if Tarantino nabs Tom Cruise, Al Pacino, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, and everyone else he’s pursuing then this could be pretty amazing. Tarantino’s film is set to open on August 9th 2019.
