Quentin Tarantino’s latest film is a paean to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and thus it seemed fitting that he cast Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, our current crop of finely aged golden boys. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood follows a TV actor and his stunt double as they try to achieve success, around the time of the 1969 Manson murders (very topical). DiCaprio stars as actor Rick Dalton, while Pitt is his longtime friend and double, Cliff Booth. With craggy features and deep mahogany tans, the former Western stars try to adapt to a changing movie climate. Margot Robbie, meanwhile, appears as the tragic Sharon Tate, alongside a cast that includes Kurt Russell and Al Pacino.
This is Tarantino’s first film sans Harvey Weinstein, who produced all eight of his previous movies. The director told the Times that he “knew enough [about Weinstein’s misconduct] to do more than I did,” before it being revealed that he made Uma Thurman do a stunt that nearly killed her. Interesting, then, that his next piece be about stuntmen (It remains to be seen as to whether we’ll get a Kill Bill 3 after the revelations). Perhaps this is Tarantino’s mea culpa.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is in theaters on July 26th, 2019.