Quentin Tarantino and Leonardo DiCaprio last came together in the 2012 film, Django Unchained. They will now reunite for Tarantino’s ninth film as director, which has been grabbed by Sony after a torrid bidding war and will hit screens on August 9, 2019.
Incidentally, this will also be DiCaprio’s first film since he won the Oscar for The Revenant.
Buzz has it that DiCaprio will play an ageing actor in the Pulp Fiction-esque film. Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, Tarantino’s film will focus on a male TV actor who has had one hit series and is 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.
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While Margot Robbie, who won accolades for her role as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, has been asked to play the role of Sharon Tate in the yet-untitled drama, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt might come on for two meaty male roles. The release date of the film coincides with the 50th anniversary of Tate’s murder at the hands of the Manson family.
The project sees Tarantino breaking away from his association of many years with Harvey Weinstein. The 54-year old filmmaker decided to part ways with his long-time distribution partner post the massive sexual harassment and assault scandal that has engulfed the Weinstein Company. “I wish I had taken responsibility for what I heard,” Tarantino said about Weinstein. “If I had done the work I should have done then, I would have had to not work with him.”
Tarantino’s last film, 2015’s Hateful Eight had grossed $54 million at the box office; disappointing considering 2012’s Django Unchained had raked in $162 million and 2009’s Inglourious Basterds’ collections of $120 million. However, he does look set to hit the highs again with his DiCaprio drama.
