Quentin Tarantino is working with a new studio for the first time and his new project sounds epic.
After working with Harvey Weinstein for all eight of his previous films, Quentin Tarantino had to find a new home for his ninth feature. It will be the first time he has worked outside of Miramax/The Weinstein Company banner. And the competition to woo him to another studio was fierce.
Every major studio, including Disney, was in the mix to bring Tarantino’s next film out to cineplexes. It came down to the final three of Paramount, Warner Bros., and Sony as to where the picture was going to land. Warner Bros. apparently pulled out all the stops including dressing up the studio in decor from the ’60s, including era-appropriate cars and mock posters from his new film. Even after all that, he ended up signing with Sony. So much for catering to Tarantino’s love of classic cinema. In order for Tarantino to even meet with a studio regarding his ninth feature, Variety reports the studios had to agree to a budget of $100 million, including Tarantino getting final cut privilege and first-dollar gross (a cut of pre-tax revenue the film makes.) That’s a lot of change, but apparently, studios were excited about the prospects of Tarantino’s ninth film which just released its first plot details.
It was first reported that the film would detail the life of the late Charles Manson during the late 1960s, but Tarantino has said the film is more about that specific year rather than focusing on the killings. Deadline reports that Margot Robbie has been sought for the role of Sharon Tate, while Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Tom Cruise have all been approached about taking two of the leading male roles. Now Vanity Fair has a report on the plot and just how the Manson story will fit into it all.
Set in Los Angeles in the summer of 1969, Tarantino’s upcoming movie, according to a source who read the script, focuses on a male TV actor who’s had one hit series and his 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.
The budget for this ninth feature is in the same ballpark as Tarantino’s Django Unchained and he is looking to start production on the movie in June. It seems as though Manson will be as involved in the events of the picture as Hitler was in the events of Inglorious Basterds. He will be more of a background character that is used to push the events of the story forward, but not likely any real big part. The script is supposed to be as great as Pulp Fiction, so here’s hoping the furious bidding war and epic A-list casting lead to another Tarantino classic.