The First Trailer for Quentin Tarantino's Wild 'Once Upon A Time in Hollywood' Is Here
Writer and director Quentin Tarantino is back -- and he brought some old friends with him. With the newly released trailer for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, the filmmaker's highly anticipated look at the movie business in the late 1960s, we get our first official look at the behind-the-scenes tale, which stars Brad Pitt, who headlined 2009's war epic Inglourious Basterds, and Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in 2012's revisionist western Django Unchained. Obviously, the new movie won't be lacking in star power.
In addition to Pitt and DiCaprio, Hollywood will also feature Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, the actress and wife of filmmaker Roman Polanski who was murdered by Charles Manson's Manson Family cult. You might not guess that grisly detail from the trailer, which emphasizes the jokes, the costumes, and the dancing as it sets up the basics of the plot. DiCaprio plays struggling TV western actor Rick Dalton, who hopes to break into movies along with his stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt). Since this is a Tarantino movie, the journey to the big screen probably doesn't go smoothly.
Though this is a quick, breezy trailer, it does an effective job of setting up the world of 1969 backlots and establishing an arch, goofy tone. (The first gag in the trailer has Pitt talking about carrying DiCaprio's "load.") It's also worth pouring over for possible glimpses of other members of the cast, which includes Bruce Dern, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino, Mike Moh, Emile Hirsch, Lena Dunham, Luke Perry, Nicholas Hammond, Michael Madsen, Scoot McNairy, Dakota Fanning, Tim Roth, Rafał Zawieruch, and probably dozens more. There will be cameos.
At the very least, the trailer is a step above the posters that were released earlier this week and immediately became a topic of ridicule online. (The most widespread criticism was that the one below resembled the How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days poster.) After this trailer, you probably won't remember the posters very much.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood arrives in theaters on July 26 via Columbia Pictures. This will be the first Tarantino film released by a major studio and his first feature that Harvey Weinstein isn't producing, following the multiple accusations of sexual assault, harassment, and misconduct that ended his career in 2017. In an article published in 2018, actress Uma Thurman, who starred in Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill films, detailed accusations of misconduct against Weinstein and also told a disturbing story about Tarantino forcing her to do a dangerous stunt on the set of Kill Bill that left her injured. In an interview with Deadline, Tarantino called the incident "the biggest regret of my life."
Almost every Tarantino movie is source of controversy and discussion, and, given the subject matter, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will be no exception. If Tarantino is to be believed, this will also be his second-to-last film. In multiple interviews, he's said he only plans on making 10 films and will then retire from filmmaking. (As the trailer points out early on, this is his ninth.) Whether or not he sticks to the "retirement" plan -- director Steven Soderbergh also "retired" but is already back making movies -- is something we'll have to wait and see about.
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