Brad Pitt is to join Leonardo DiCaprio as one of the lead actors in Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming movie about the murders perpetrated by notorious serial killer Charles Manson in 1969.
However, neither DiCaprio nor Pitt will play the infamous criminal Manson, who died in November last year after spending more than forty years in prison where he was serving a life sentence.
According to Deadline, DiCaprio will play Rick Dalton, a former star of a western TV series, while Pitt plays his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth who are living in Los Angeles in 1969.
Tarantino has also announced the film’s title, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and the release date has been set as 9 August, 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the murders.
In a statement released by Sony Pictures, Tarantino describes his film as “a story that takes place in Los Angeles in 1969, at the height of hippy Hollywood … Both [men] are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don’t recognise any more. But Rick has a very famous next door neighbour … Sharon Tate.”
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Actress Sharon Tate, then married to director Roman Polanski, along with three friends and a visitor to the house’s caretaker, was killed by Manson’s deranged cult member Charles “Tex” Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel.
Margot Robbie has been tapped to play the role of Tate but her casting has not been confirmed.
Tarantino added: “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. I’m very excited to tell this story of an LA and a Hollywood that don’t exist anymore.”
This film will see Tarantino reunite with DiCaprio after “Django Unchained”, and with Pitt after “Inglourious Basterds” which received eight Oscar nominations.
