THE STORY SO FAR...: TARANTINO'S ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD

One of the few Hollywood auteurs whose name is as recognizable as the stars that flock to his projects, Quentin Tarantino is currently shooting what is shaping as the most highly anticipated film of his career, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. The director has teased, “It takes place at the height of the counterculture explosion, at the time of the hippie revolution…at the height of new Hollywood.” So what do we know about the Pulp Fiction auteur’s latest…?

The LA industry began buzzing in July 2017, when Tarantino (via his representatives at William Morris Endeavour) announced his latest project - his first original script, five years in the writing, to be based on real events. The narrative was initially described as an account of the infamous Charles Manson murders. The cult leader (once a song-writing hopeful who lived with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson) ordered his followers to slay the residents of a home in Benedict Canyon; on August 8, 1969, five died, including actress Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski and eight months pregnant at the time of her brutal death.

Under the work-in-progress titles ‘Tarantino 1969’, ‘Manson Family Murders Project’ or simply ‘#9’ (a reference to it being the director’s ninth film), top-tier talent began circulating for a myriad of roles. Jennifer Lawrence (as Tate) and Tom Cruise (as an LA County prosecutor) were initially attached; the director’s frequent collaborator Samuel L. Jackson met with Tarantino in mid-2017. With the departure of Lawrence, Australian-born Oscar nominee Margot Robbie firmed for the Tate part (pictured, below; Robbie and Tate); by November, Django Unchained star Leonardo DiCaprio publically declared his intent to work with Tarantino again, accepting a lead role well below his pay grade. When Inglorious Basterds leading man Brad Pitt (pictured, right; on-set with DiCaprio) confirmed his interest, the Hollywood suits closed the deal and fuelled a bidding war between studios and financiers (Tarantino detached himself from longtime production partner The Weinstein Company, with David Heyman replacing the disgraced Harvey Weinstein in the primary producer’s role).

Plot details began to emerge. With the turbulent social change that was the late 60s as its backdrop, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood tells the story of television star Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) who, with his stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt) by his side, navigates the Los Angeles film industry landscape hoping to re-energise his profile and crack bigscreen fame. Tarantino now posits the murders as a defining event in the narrative but not the all-consuming focus, silencing initial concerns that the film would be his typically blood-soaked take on the horrific crimes. Recent reports suggest the film will adopt a portmanteau structure a la Tarantino’s 1994 masterpiece; at CinemaCon in April, he hinted his latest is “probably the closest to ‘Pulp Fiction’ that I have done.”

This more expansive story line explains an ensemble cast list that positions the already high-profile project as an event film (despite the departure of Cruise and Jackson). Dakota Fanning plays Manson disciple Lynette ‘Squeaky’ Fromme; U.K. actor Damian Lewis has been cast as superstar Steve McQueen; as murdered hairstylist Jay Sebring, Speed Racer star Emile Hirsch; Hollywood icon Burt Reynolds as ranch owner George Spahn, who leased his land to Manson and his cultists; and, as talent agent Marvin Schwartz, the legendary Al Pacino (pictured, right; on-set, with his director).

An all-star line-up fills out key roles, including Kurt Russell, Scoot McNairy, Luke Perry, Clifton Collins Jr., Timothy Olyphant, Nicholas Hammond, James Marsden, James Remar, Martin Kove, Brenda Vaccaro, Zoe Bell and, as martial arts icon Bruce Lee, Mike Moh. The shoot will also reteam Tarantino with his Reservoir Dogs’ co-stars, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen. No announcement has been made as to who will play Charles Manson.

Sony Pictures had beaten out 21^st Century Fox, Universal, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, and Annapurna to secure production and worldwide distribution rights. Tarantino spun the partnership as being the work of SPE boss Tom Rothman, who impressed the director with his in-depth film knowledge; other reports suggest the film came to Sony on the back of a deal that afforded Tarantino a US$95million budget, rare ‘final cut’ autonomy and a 25% gross-dollar bonus.

With cinematographer Robert Richardson lensing alongside Tarantino on their 6^th collaboration, shooting began at Universal Studios and key location across the City of Angels (including, pictured above; the iconic Cinerama Dome, outfitted for a 1969 film screening) on June 18 and is set to wrap in mid-November. The release date had been set as August 9, 2019, the 50^th anniversary of the Manson-Tate murders; it has been subsequently changed to July 26.

Compiled with thanks from reports originally published on The Hollywood Reporter, Screen Rant, Variety, Deadline Hollywood and Indiewire.

THE SUNDANCE BUMP: WHICH FILM WILL BE THE 2015 BREAKOUT HIT?

In hindsight, the Sundance Film Festival timed its run very nicely. As a new wave of American independent cinema was emerging, so to was the festival that would become synonymous with the freshest film voices. From its roots in the late 1970s as the Utah US Film Festival to its rebranding in 1985 under the guidance of Sundance Institute head Sterling Van Wagenen and chairman Robert Redford, The Sundance Film Festival has solidified its status as American industry’s premiere film event.

Few labels in the film industry carry as much importance as ‘Sundance’s breakout hit’. Best exemplified by the Sundance-inspired success of Steven Soderbergh’s Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989), each year a parade of indies vie to be the festival’s most buzzed-about new film. Directors who owe their careers to Sundance include Joel and Ethan Coen (Blood Simple, 1985), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, 1992), Kevin Smith (Clerks, 1994), Christopher Nolan (Memento, 2000; pictured, above), Behn Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild, 2012), Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, 1992) and Steve James (Hoop Dreams, 1994).

Last year, the title went to Damien Chazelle’s Whiplash, currently a frontrunner for several Oscar nominations. So which of the 2015 Sundance slate will be this years ‘Breakout’ film? MEET THE FILMMAKERS looks at five who might have the goods…

Slow West
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Rory McCann, Ben Mendelsohn, Brooke Williams, Caren Pistorius.
Director: John Maclean, Screenwriters: John Maclean, Michael Lesslie. (New Zealand).
A hardened teenager journeys across the 19^th-century American frontier on a romantic odyssey, with a mysterious traveller by his side and an outlaw in pursuit. Fassbender has both indie cred (Frank) and Oscar heat (12 Years a Slave), but needs to drive a hit film; Aussie acting might in the form of next-big-thing Kodi Smit McPhee (The Road; The Young Ones) and Ben Mendehlsohn (Animal Kingdom; Killing Me Softly). World Premiere

Call Me Lucky
Director: Bobcat Goldthwait (USA)Goldthwait is one of the most enigmatic directors working the US indie scene. With hard-bitten satire (Shakes the Clown; God Bless America) and found-footage horror (Willow Creek) already stamped with his imprimatur, he turns to politico-showbiz documentary with Call Me Lucky, an account of the life of fearless stand-up Barry Crimmins. The comic/peace activist/political satirist is seen through the eyes of those whose intellect and talent were affected deeply by Crimmins.

Racing Extinction
Director: Louie Psihoyos (USA)
Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos is not one to sugar-coat the environmental agenda of his films; anyone who has The Cove will attest to that. In Racing Extinction, the filmmaker/activist assembles a crack unit of investigators and infiltrators in an effort to take down black market operators, poachers and white-collar criminals exploiting the animal world. Docos don’t usually hit big at the box office, but The Cove became a cult hit in ancillary; the charismatic Psihoyos can put a sellable spin on even the most challenging subject matter.

Partisan
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Jeremy Chabriel, Florence Mezzara.
Director: Ariel Kleiman, Screenwriters: Ariel Kleiman, Sarah Cyngler. (Australia)
In what reads like a ‘Doomsday Hoarder’ spin on Joe Wright’s teen-assassin thriller Hanna, Jeremy Chabriel plays Alexander, a prized member of the young army being trained by Vincent Cassel’s Gregori. Having been raised to view the world through Gregori’s bitter vengeful eyes, Alexander hits puberty and begins to form his own views about the worth of civilization.  Cassel replaced Oscar Isaac (who bailed to star in Star Wars The Force Awakens); the Frenchman spent several weeks in Australia’s southern mountain regions for the tough shoot. A very high-profile slot for writer/director’s Kleiman’s debut feature. World Premiere

Last Days in the Desert
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Ciaran Hinds, Susan Gray.
Director/screenwriter: Rodrigo Garcia.
The resurgence of faith-based films (Noah; Exodus Gods and Kings; Son of God) may bolster Last days in the Desert. Auteur Rodrigo Garcia (Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her; Mother and Child) imagines a struggle between Jesus Christ and the Devil over the fate of a family in a remote desert settlement. After a few too many paycheque performances, McGregor is seeking out edgy, interesting projects of late; he double-duties here in both key roles, offering a version of Christ as an existential everyman discovering the strength of his own soulful resilience. Lots of press coverage everytime cinema reworks biblical lore; could click with upscale, nonsecular audiences. Garcia has been a critical darling on the edge of the director's A-list for a while and is due a hit. 

Z for Zachariah
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Margot Robbie, Chris Pine.
Director: Craig Zobel, Screenwriter: Nissar Modi (USA)
Zobel garnered lots of polarising opinion for his last effort, Compliance; both Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) and Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) are as hot as they will ever be. Throw in Captain Kirk and the promise of smart sci-fi and Z for Zachariah - a post-apocalyptic vision about a lone young woman and the sexual politics that emerge when two male survivors stumble upon her – is rightfully one of Sundance’s hottest tickets.