Quentin Tarantino is a man a lot of actors want to be in business with just so they can get a chance to perform some whip-smart Tarantino dialogue. But the director is a man who when he finds the right crew he likes to stick to it, for the most part, and word is he’s looking to bring back familiar faces for his ninth feature film. And, yes, they are all names worth screaming “YES!” for.
Word from Deadline is that Tarantino has finished the script for his ninth movie, and has discussions with several high-profile names when it comes to casting: Brad Pitt (INGLORIOUS BASTERDS), Leonardo DiCaprio (DJANGO UNCHAINED) and, of course, Samuel L. Jackson (almost everything Tarantino has done). No official word has been made when it comes to casting, but Jackson can probably be considered a guarantee.
The movie will be set in the 60s and 70s as reports have floated around that the movie will heavily focus on Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murders. However, word from Deadline is that saying the movie is about Manson is like saying “INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is about Adolf Hitler.” The movie was about people killing Nazis, but Hitler himself was only in about two scenes. No word yet on who would play Manson, but Tarantino is apparently hoping to get Margot Robbie for Sharon Tate.
This news also comes in tandem with an announcement that Tarantino is leaving The Weinstein Company, the place where has made his movies since the company’s inception. Tarantino did a lot to bring about the rise of the indie film movement back in the 90s, and that includes making Miramax a household name. When the Weinstein’s left the Disney-owned company to form The Weinstein Company, Tarantino came along for the ride and gave them hits like INGLORIOUS BASTERDS and DJANGO UNCHAINED. But as the company has become toxic since Harvey Weinstein’s fall from Olympus, Tarantino has begun shopping his movie at major studios (sans Disney) who can easily release his movie globally, which there is a market for, seeing as how BASTERDS and DJANGO made hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide.
When it comes to casting, getting Pitt or DiCaprio would be huge for the movie, and the two have played two of the most memorable characters in Tarantino's filmography. Personally, I thought DiCaprio should've won his Oscar years ago for his work on DJANGO. Today it remains one of his most memorable, committed and bloody performances (Christoph Waltz won that year for his work on the same movie). As for the studio he may go to, Universal and Columbia Pictures helped distribute BASTERDS and DJANGO respectively, so he already has a relationship with them. I can also see him going with Warner Bros., but really, I'm sure any studio is desperate to get into the Tarantino game.
The movie is aiming to begin production in mid-2018 for a 2019 release.