Tarantino described Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as "the most exciting star dynamic duo since Robert Redford and Paul Newman."
Quentin Tarantino stated that the story consists of multiple parallel stories and will be the closest thing to his earlier film Pulp Fiction.
This is Luke Perry's last film, and it will be released posthumously. Perry suffered a massive stroke in late February 2019, ultimately passing away on March 4, 2019. The movie is scheduled for release in July 2019. The Luke Perry character, Scott Lancer, is a homage to Wayne Maunder and his role in the TV show Lancer (1968). Maunder, died on November 11, 2018, ten days after filming wrapped on Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019).
This will be Leonardo DiCaprio's first film in four years since winning his first Academy Award for The Revenant (2015).
Tarantino has said he worked on the screenplay for five years.
When Tarantino finished writing the screenplay, he only kept one copy of the entire finished version. Only leading actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt were able to read the full script from start to finish. Everyone else on the project, including Margot Robbie, only got to read the parts of the script pertaining to their character. Both Pitt and DiCaprio had to go to Tarantino's house to read the screenplay. Because there was only one copy, Tarantino said the pages got stained and stayed that way.
Quentin Tarantino claimed to have written a role specifically for Al Pacino in the film. Pacino would later be cast as Marvin Shwarz, a fictitious Hollywood agent to DiCaprio's character.
Quentin Tarantino was scheduled to make the film for The Weinstein Company. When news broke out about the sexual assault allegations against co-chairman Harvey Weinstein, Tarantino severed ties with The Weinstein Company and essentially began summoning studio executives to his agent's office to read copies of his Manson script. The project was already one of the most anticipated and promising projects on the board at the time. After reading the script, each studio -- Warner Bros., Universal, Sony, and Paramount, most prominently -- were welcome to make a bid for the theatrical right before a second round of bids pitched to Tarantino himself. Sony won the theatrical rights in the bidding war.
Received a seven-minute standing ovation at Cannes premiere.
Burt Reynolds was originally cast as George Spahn, the ranch owner, but he sadly passed away weeks before he was scheduled to shoot his scenes. Bruce Dern replaced him in the role.
This is the first collaboration for Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Its title is an homage to Sergio Leone, who has directed Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) as well as Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Tarantino has cited the director as a favorite of his and an influence throughout his career.
Leonardo DiCaprio undertook a strict workout routine in order to convincingly play an action star, giving up pastas and desserts and doing hundreds of push ups per day.
Tarantino considers the screenplay of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as "probably his most personal."
Leonardo DiCaprio & Brad Pitt got along so well during the production that they confirmed at the film's Cannes premiere that they would love to team up again on another film.
Leonardo DiCaprio was courted for several months to take on one of the two primary characters in the film. The role was revealed to be the character of Rick Dalton, a washed up former television western star, which DiCaprio would eventually be convinced to sign on for his second collaboration with Quentin Tarantino. Their prior collaboration between them was for Django Unchained (2012).
Tarantino thinks of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood like "his memory piece". He even compares it to Alfonso Cuaron's Roma (2018).
This film was originally scheduled to be released on August 9, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the murder of Sharon Tate and friends by members of Charles Manson's 'Family,' before Sony changed the release date to July 26, 2019. August 9, 1969 is also recognised as the point the 'Hippie' movement, the free love era, and the 60s as a whole came to an abrupt end as a result of these murders.
Tarantino spent five years writing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as a novel before realizing a film script would better suit the material.
Brad Pitt was reportedly in talks for an unspecified role in the film, which was rumoured to be a detective investigating the murders, and was eventually turned down by Pitt. Negotiations stopped for a couple months as it was assumed Pitt wasn't interested. Tarantino then tried to consider Tom Cruise for a role as many assume it was the same role (its not been confirmed) that Pitt declined but matters never materialized with Cruise. Tarantino then went back to Pitt months later for a role again but this time, the role was confirmed for being the stuntman character, Cliff Booth which Pitt would sign on to do.
Is set to cost a reported $100 million.
Maya Hawke, who appears as a Flower Girl, is the daughter of Uma Thurman. Thurman has starred in three movies directed by Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction (1994), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)).
Brings Quentin Tarantino full circle with Sony Pictures over two decades after TriStar put Pulp Fiction (1994) into turnaround, due to its supposed glamorization of violence and drugs.
For Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his love letter to L.A.
The background song in the teaser trailer is 'Bring a Little Lovin', published on 1968 by the Spanish group Los Bravos.
The film features three Academy Award winners: Al Pacino, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio; and four Academy Award nominees: Tim Roth, Margot Robbie, Brenda Vaccaro and Bruce Dern.
Originally skeptical of the project, Sharon Tate's sister Debra Tate gave the film and Margot's portrayal of Sharon her blessing after Debra was embraced by Tarantino himself and became aware of how her sister would be represented within the film. Debra referred to Margot as a "dedicated craftsman," and praised the actress's research of Sharon prior to meeting with her.
Rumors have circulated that Jennifer Lawrence was being considered for the role of Manson Family member Susan Atkins. In 2014, Quentin Tarantino considered Lawrence for the role of Daisy Domergue in The Hateful Eight (2015), which ultimately went to Jennifer Jason Leigh. In interviews around that film's release date, Tarantino described Daisy as "a Manson girl out West, like Susan Atkins or something", suggesting that Tarantino has imagined Lawrence in mind for a part like this for some time.
Quentin Tarantino considers himself one of the luckiest directors in the history of Hollywood for he was able to cast Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt at the same time.
This is the third collaboration between Quentin Tarantino and Kurt Russell. Their previous ones were Death Proof (2007) and The Hateful Eight (2015) and this would have been their fourth if Russell had not been forced to drop out of Django Unchained (2012) due to scheduling conflicts.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie previously starred together as a husband and wife in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
The romantic partners of co-stars Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio, Lucila Solá and Camila Morrone, are mother and daughter.
Director/actor Kevin Smith's daughter, Harley Quinn Smith stars alongside Margot Robbie in this film and was named after Harley Quinn from DC Comic universe. Margot Robbie plays Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and the upcoming film "Birds of Prey."
At the film's world premiere screening at the Cannes film festival, the scene where Brad Pitt, 55, takes off his shirt to show off his still muscular stuntman physique, drew gasps and spontaneous applause from the audience, as reported by the BBC and Indiewire.
Korean-American Mike Moh is cast as the Hong Kong-American Bruce Lee.
This will be the first film starring both Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. At one point when Good Will Hunting was making the rounds to get produced, all the studios and directors wanted "Leo and Brad" to star in it, a film since starring Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. Damon would subsequently go on to work with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed and Brad Pitt in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy as well as cameo together in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. The last two of which co-starred George Clooney, who co-starred with Quentin Tarantino in From Dusk Till Dawn, which Tarantino wrote.
This is Brad Pitt and Al Pacino's first collaboration since Ocean's Thirteen (2007).
For Tarantino, the title of the film is a take on the fact that the film is "a Hollywood of reality-but a Hollywood of the mind at the same time".
Tarantino is the third director to direct Leonardo DiCaprio more than once. The other two are Martin Scorsese and Baz Luhrmann.
Shot on 35 mm film as with every Tarantino picture.
The Cannes premiere of the film made such a splash that a large number of people, including film executives, weren't able to get in. Journalists queued for two hours before the film's 4:30 p.m. press screening. When the attendants came to the entrance barrier at the theater at about 3:50 p.m. to start admitting attendees, a round of applause went up from some in the crowd. The crush and jostle to get in became such a heaving mess of sharp elbows that the staffers had to admonish people not to push their way into the theater.
Samuel L. Jackson was in talks for a role.
Wrapped filming on November first.
Quentin Tarantino's third collaboration with both Keith Jefferson and Craig Stark, following Django Unchained (2012) and The Hateful Eight (2015).
The release of Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (2019) will mark the tenth anniversary of Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt's first collaboration Inglourious Basterds (2009).
Manson follower Nancy Pitman was quoted as saying "We are what you have made us, we were brought up on your TV. We were brought up watching Gunsmoke [and] Have Gun Will Travel". Both of these shows were prime time, long running Western TV shows and Tarantino's film follows a faded Western TV star during the Charles Manson killings of 1969.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood started its life as a prospective novel written by Tarantino. However, over the years, the story morphed and the idea of making it into a movie became more obvious.
Before the world premiere of Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019) in Cannes Film Festival, Quentin Tarantino begged from Cannes crowds to avoid spoilers for later audiences in a statement on social media. The statement was thus: "I love cinema, You love cinema. It's the journey of discovering a story for the first time. I'm thrilled to be here in Cannes to share 'Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood' with the festival audience. The cast and crew have worked so hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way. Thank you."
Cinematographer Robert Richardson has previously worked on three films starring actor Leonardo DiCaprio. The Aviator (2004), Shutter Island (2010), Django Unchained (2012). The former two were directed by Martin Scorsese, while the latter and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are films by Quentin Tarantino.
For the character of Sharon Tate, Quentin Tarantino did not approach Roman Polanski, he admitted at the press conference in Cannes. But Tarantino asked for and received help from Sharon Tate's sister Debra, who is thanked in the credits. Also he gave Debra Tate a script to read early on, went to visit her in Santa Barbara and spent a weekend with her. She even came on set when the Bruin [Theatre in Westwood] sequence was being shot.
Premiered in competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, 25 years after Tarantino brought Pulp Fiction to the festival in 1994 and won the Palme d'Or.
According to Quentin Tarantino, whenever he referred to the project of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, he referred to it as "Magnum Opus".
For Tarantino, the title of the film, in one regard, has "a fairy-tale aspect". On another level, since the film is not historical fact per se, the title is a memory piece.
The working title for the film #9, being Quentin Tarantino's ninth feature film.
Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant and James Remar previously worked on The Girl Next Door (2004).
Audiences at the Cinerama Dome on the 12 June 2018 were surprised to see that the scheduled 70mm screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1967) appeared to be replaced by "Krakatoa, East of Java!" In fact, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1967) had just been moved to another screen, and "Krakatoa, East of Java" was just part of the second unit work required for Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019) to recreate the summer of 1969 in Los Angeles.
For Tarantino, Rick Dalton is not any one person, because Tarantino made a conscious effort not to do that. Dalton is a little bit of Edd Byrne, Ty Hardin - the man who would be McQueen - a little William Shatner.
Despite Damon Harriman playing Charles Manson and Rafal Zawierucha playing Roman Polanski, Harriman is 16 years older than Zawierucha, despite Manson being a year younger than Polanski.
Brad Pitt appeared in True Romance which was written (but not directed) by Quentin Tarantino.
Fifth collaboration between Tim Roth and Quentin Tarantino. The two previously worked together on Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino's first film, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms and The Hateful Eight. This would've been their sixth collaboration if Roth had appeared in Inglorious Basterds, however there were scheduling conflicts with Roth's show Lie to Me.
The song from the very beginning of the teaser trailer is 'Straight Shooter' by The Mamas and The Papas
Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis appears in the film. Tarantino has previously worked with her father in Pulp Fiction (1994).
British Damian Lewis plays American Steve McQueen.
Editor Fred Raskin's first assembly of the film was four hours, 20 minutes.
James Marsden and Clifton Collins Jr. previously worked on Westworld (2016).
The Cannes premiere of the film drew stars from all over the world, including Zhang Ziyi, Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Guillaume Canet, Gilles Lellouche, Xavier Dolan, Dakota Fanning, Adrien Brody and Michelle Rodriguez.
For Tarantino, Sharon Tate has an angelic presence throughout the movie. He even considers Tate an angelic ghost on earth, with Tarantino's own words, "to some degree, she's not in the movie, she's in our hearts".
Luke Perry and Rebecca Gayheart played love interests on 90210.
Damon Herriman and Timothy Olyphant were both in Justified (2010).
Both Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio have played the lead role in a Christopher Nolan movie. Pacino did in Insomnia (2002) and DiCaprio did in Inception (2010).
Brad Pitt and James Marsden both starred in at least one X-Men movie. Pitt was Vanisher in Deadpool 2 (2018) and Marsden was Cyclops in the first X-Men trilogy and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
This Damon Harriman's first Leonardo DiCaprio movie since J. Edgar (2011).