Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio to Star in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon a Time Hollywood’

A new Quentin Tarantino film will find A-list stars Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio reuniting with the director for a story about behind the scenes drama in Hollywood.

The movie is titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and is reportedly the Sharon Tate movie that rumors have been circulating about. Tarantino spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the project, calling it “a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood.”

“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). Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don’t recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbor…Sharon Tate.”

The movie will be released by Sony Pictures, and has a target worldwide premiere date of Aug. 9, 2019. The negotiations to get two stars of this magnitude into the film were reportedly strenuous, and their salaries are not coming cheap for the studio. The outlet reports that DiCaprio was close to walking away from the project in January.

Both actors have a history with Tarantino, in addition to each other. Pitt starred in Inglourious Basterds, a smash-hit revenge film that pulled in $321 million worldwide and received eight Oscar nominations and one win. Meanwhile, DiCaprio had a starring role in Django Unchained, which pulled in five Oscar nominations and two wins.

“I’ve been working on this script for five years,” Tarantino said in a statement, “as well as living in Los Angeles County most of my life, including in 1969, when I was seven years old. I’m very excited to tell this story of an LA and a Hollywood that don’t exist anymore. And I couldn’t be happier about the dynamic teaming of DiCaprio & Pitt as Rick & Cliff.”

The film will reportedly tackle the story of Sharon Tate’s murder at the hands of Charles Manson and his cult followers. Tate was married to embattled filmmaker Roman Polanski at the time, and was carrying his child. The cultists ended her life with the intention of sparking a race war in the United States.

The story came back into public consciousness late last year when Manson died in prison. However, Tate’s younger sister expressed distaste for the country’s fascination with the story, and artists’ insistence on telling it in various mediums.