Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is a 2019 comedy-drama film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who produced it with David Heyman and Shannon McIntosh. Produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, and Visiona Romantica, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is a co-production between the United States, United Kingdom, and China.
It features an ensemble cast led by Leonardo DiCaprio as Rick Dalton, an aging Western hero; Brad Pitt as his stunt double Cliff Booth; and Margot Robbie as actress Sharon Tate, wife of Roman Polanski. Set in 1969 Los Angeles, the period film follows a fading actor (DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Pitt) as they navigate the rapidly changing film industry. The threat of the Tate murders is looming.
Announced in July 2017, this is Tarantino's first film made without producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein. Tarantino ended his partnership with the brothers following the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
After a bidding war, the film was distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, which met Tarantino's demands, including final cut privilege. Pitt, DiCaprio, Robbie, Zoë Bell, Kurt Russell and others joined the cast between January and June 2018. Principal photography lasted from June to November around Los Angeles. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the final film to feature Luke Perry, who died on March 4, 2019; it is dedicated to his memory.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 21, 2019. There it was shown as a 35 mm film print. The film was released theatrically in the United States on July 26, and in the United Kingdom on August 14. It grossed over $409 million worldwide and received acclaim from critics, although historical inaccuracies and the portrayals of some artists were criticized. The National Board of Review and the American Film Institute named Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as one of the Top-10 films of 2019, and it won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was nominated for 10 awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning two (Best Supporting Actor for Pitt and Best Production Design), and received numerous other accolades. It has since been considered as one of the greatest films of the 2010s and 21st century. The Writers Guild of America ranked the film's screenplay the 22nd-greatest of the 21st century. Tarantino has stated that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his favorite film that he has made.
A novelization, written by Tarantino in his debut as an author, was published in 2021. A sequel to the film, The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher, with Brad Pitt in the lead role, is in production and is scheduled to be released in 2026.
Plot
In February 1969, Hollywood actor Rick Dalton, a former Western TV star, copes with a fading career, his most recent roles being guest appearances as TV villains. Agent Marvin Schwarz suggests working in spaghetti Westerns in Italy, which Rick considers inferior.
Rick's best friend, stunt double, personal assistant, and driver is Cliff Booth, a World War II special ops veteran living in a trailer with his pit bull Brandy. Cliff struggles to find stunt work due to a past altercation with Bruce Lee and rumors that he murdered his wife. Although he does not know them personally, Rick is aware that young actress Sharon Tate and her husband, director Roman Polanski, live next door. Rick longs to befriend them, thinking it could reignite his career.
While fixing the TV antenna on Rick's roof, Cliff notices a hippie arriving at the Polanski residence. The man, Charles Manson, asks for music producer Terry Melcher, but Tate's friend, Jay Sebring, says Melcher has moved. Later, Tate watches herself in The Wrecking Crew at a local film theater. Cliff gives hitchhiker Pussycat a ride to Spahn Ranch, a former Western film set where Cliff did stunt work.
Cliff checks on George Spahn, the ranch's nearly blind owner, seeking to make sure the hippies living there are not exploiting him. Cliff physically forces ranch hippie Clem to change his car tire after it was deliberately punctured. The hippies' leader Tex is summoned to deal with the situation, but he does not arrive until Cliff is driving away.
While filming an episode for the TV series Lancer, Rick struggles to deliver his lines, causing him to have an emotional breakdown in his trailer. He later gives a powerful performance during his character's speech, impressing director Sam Wanamaker and his co-star Trudi, boosting his confidence.
Schwarz books Rick to star in a Sergio Corbucci spaghetti Western. Cliff accompanies Rick for the six-month shoot in Italy, where Rick films three additional films and marries Italian starlet Francesca Capucci. Before returning to the US, a troubled Rick tells Cliff that he can no longer afford his salary, which Cliff amicably understands.
Returning to Los Angeles on August 8, 1969, Rick and Cliff go drinking to commemorate their time together. Returning to Rick's house, Cliff smokes an acid-laced cigarette and takes Brandy for a walk, while Rick makes margaritas. Manson's followers Tex, Sadie, Katie and Flowerchild arrive to murder the Tate house occupants. Hearing a car's loud muffler, an enraged Rick orders the group off the private street. Recognizing him, the family members decide to kill him instead, when Sadie reasons that through television shows such as Rick's, Hollywood has "taught them to murder".
Flowerchild deserts the group, fleeing with their car. Breaking into Rick's house armed with knives and a gun, the remaining group confronts Capucci and Cliff, with Tex announcing that he is “the Devil and here to do the Devil’s business”. Cliff recognizes them from Spahn Ranch and orders Brandy to attack. Brandy mauls Tex and bites off his genitals, and Cliff finishes him off by stomping him to death. He is stabbed by Katie, but swiftly beats her to death using random objects around the home. Brandy attacks and disfigures Sadie, who crashes through the back garden and startles Rick, who has been listening to music and was totally unaware of the fighting inside. As Sadie attempts to shoot him, Rick retrieves a working stunt flamethrower from a shed and incinerates her with it.
After the police have taken statements and an ambulance brings Cliff to the hospital, Sebring and Tate invite Rick to Tate's house for a drink.
Cast
Quentin Tarantino portrays the director of Dalton's Red Apples cigarettes commercial and the voice of Bounty Law. Musician Toni Basil appears in the opening credits, during the Pan Am scene, dancing with Sharon Tate. Margot Robbie also briefly reprises her role as Laura Cameron, a stewardess from the TV series Pan Am. Although her face is not seen, she makes and serves a cocktail to Dalton on his flight home from Italy.
Additionally, the film features appearances from James Remar as "Ugly Owl Hoot" a Bounty Law character (scene cut), and Lew Temple, Vincent Laresca, JLouis Mills and Maurice Compte as Land Pirates. Ex-UFC star Keith Jardine performed stunts on the film.
An extended cut, released theatrically in October 2019, included an appearance by James Marsden as Burt Reynolds and a voiceover by Walton Goggins. Danny Strong and Tim Roth shot scenes that were cut; Strong portrayed Dean Martin and Paul Barabuta (based on Rudolph Altobelli), the homeowner of 10050 Cielo Drive, while Roth portrayed Raymond, Sebring's English butler. Sebring had a butler in real life named Amos Russell, who was interviewed by the police while investigating the Tate murders. Despite being removed from the final theatrical cut of the film, Roth still received credit for acting in the film.
Character details
Fictional characters
Rick Dalton Dalton is an actor who starred in the fictitious television Western series Bounty Law from 1959 to 1963, inspired by real-life series Wanted Dead or Alive, starring Steve McQueen. After Bounty Law, Dalton began to appear in supporting film roles, leading to a four-picture contract with Universal Pictures, ending in 1967. His film career never took off, and in 1967 he started to guest star on TV series as villains.
Cliff Booth Booth, Dalton's stunt double, personal assistant and best friend, is an indestructible World War II hero, specializing in knives and close-quarters combat, and "one of the deadliest guys alive." He is a two-time Medal of Honor recipient, and has killed more Japanese soldiers than any other American soldier. Booth first met Dalton during the third season of Bounty Law in 1961 when he was brought in as his stunt double. A month into the job he saved Dalton's life after he caught on fire while filming an episode. Quentin Tarantino and Brad Pitt modeled Booth after Tom Laughlin's portrayal of Billy Jack. Booth had performed stunts on The Born Losers and was paid with the denim outfit worn by Laughlin as Billy Jack, which is what he wears in the film. Booth is inspired by Gary Kent, a stuntman for a film made at the Spahn Ranch while the Manson Family lived there, as well as stuntman, professional wrestler and two-time national judo champion Gene LeBell. LeBell came to work on The Green Hornet after complaints that Bruce Lee was "kicking the shit out of the stuntmen", though some aspects of LeBell's story have been disputed. Like Booth, LeBell was suspected of murder but never convicted. Pitt channeled Steve McQueen's stunt double Bud Ekins for his portrayal of Booth. Tarantino also revealed that Booth was inspired by a real stuntman who "was the closest equivalent to Stuntman Mike" (Kurt Russell) from Death Proof. He was "absolutely indestructible... scared everybody... [and] killed his wife on a boat and got away with it." Billie Booth is Cliff's wife, whose death in the film—and the ambiguity surrounding it—is a reference to Natalie Wood's, as is Billie's sister's name, Natalie. Unlike the ambiguity of the film, in the novelization Cliff did in fact murder Billie. He shot her with a speargun, almost tearing her in half, which he immediately regretted. There is a connection between Cliff and Robert Blake, to whom Tarantino dedicates the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood novel. Also in the novelization, Cliff had murdered three other people, including another stuntman.
Other fictional characters Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters), the precocious child actor who portrays Mirabella on Lancer, is inspired by Jodie Foster, while Mirabella is inspired by the character Teresa O'Brien from said series, portrayed by Elizabeth Baur. The character is older in the real-life Lancer. Fraser goes on to become an Academy Award–nominated actress. Her third nomination is for Tarantino's 1999 remake of The Lady in Red. Marvin Schwarz of the William Morris Agency is Dalton's agent, a role that Tarantino wrote specifically for Al Pacino. Francesca Capucci the Italian starlet who marries Dalton is based on 1960s Italian actresses and sex symbols, namely Sophia Loren, Claudia Cardinale, Virna Lisi and Monica Vitti. Some characters, such as Zoë Bell's stunt coordinator Janet Lloyd and Heba Thorisdottir's makeup artist Sonya, were portrayed by individuals who performed the same jobs for the film. Randy Lloyd is the stunt coordinator for The Green Hornet, a position that was held by Bennie Dobbins on the series in real life. Michael Madsen's Sheriff Hackett on Bounty Law is partially inspired by Peter Breck, who also served as Madsen's inspiration for Joe Gage in Tarantino's The Hateful Eight; specifically Breck's role in The Big Valley.