Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt to star in Quentin Tarantino's Charles Manson movie
LOS ANGELES — Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are set to take on the Charles Manson story in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." According to Sony Pictures, Tarantino has described the film as "a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood."
The studio says Wednesday that the film has been dated for a theatrical release on Aug. 9, 2019.
The project has become widely known as Tarantino's Charles Manson film. Neither DiCaprio nor Pitt will be playing Manson, however. Tarantino says they will play a pair of struggling actors. DiCaprio's character is a former Western TV series star and Pitt plays his stunt double. Their characters live next door to Sharon Tate, the actress who was murdered by Manson followers.
"I've been working on this script for five years, as well as living in Los Angeles County most of my life, including in 1969, when I was seven years old," Tarantino said in Sony's release. "I'm very excited to tell this story of an L.A. and a Hollywood that [doesn't] exist anymore. And I couldn't be happier about the dynamic teaming of DiCaprio & Pitt as Rick & Cliff."
Tarantino has been working on the script for five years. It will mark his ninth feature.
The Manson Family murders have been the subject of fascination for years and will be the subject of at least two more high-profile movie projects. Mary Harron is set to direct "Charlie Says," starring Matt Smith as Manson, and Hilary Duff will play Sharon Tate in "The Haunting of Sharon Tate."
Emma Cline's 2016 novel "The Girls," which is about a 14-year-old girl who gets involved in a dark 1960s cult that closely resembles the Manson Family, was on The New York Times' best-seller list for 12 weeks.
