Tarantino has written multiple episodes of fictional Rick Dalton TV series

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Taking place in 1969 Los Angeles, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD finds actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) attempting to navigate an industry which they barely recognize anymore.  In a lengthy interview with Deadline, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD writer/director Quentin Tarantino revealed that he wrote a great deal of back-story for ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD's Rick Dalton. "I can go through Rick Dalton’s filmography, film by film, every director he worked with, and the anecdotes on the set and how he got the role and what happened," Tarantino said. "Did it do well? Did it not do well? Is it a good movie? Is it not a good movie? In order."

One of Rick Dalton's projects featured in ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is Bounty Law, a Western TV series which Dalton once starred in, and Tarantino found himself growing quite fond of the fictional series, even going so far as to write five episodes.

From watching the different old western shows and everything, I did it to get in the head of Bounty Law. I ended up starting to really like the idea of Jake Cahill, as a character. I really started loving those half hour ’50s western scripts. The idea that you could write something like 24 minutes, where there was so much story crammed in those half hour shows, with a real beginning and a middle and an end. Also it was kind of fun because you can’t just keep doubling down and exploring. At some point, you’ve got to wrap it up. I really liked that idea. I’ve written five different episodes for a possible Bounty Law black and white half hour western show.

It also turns out that Quentin Tarantino has plans for those Bounty Law episodes beyond merely using them to flesh out the ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD universe behind-the-scenes. "I have an outline for about three other episodes," Tarantino said. "So I’ll probably write about three other episodes and then just do it. Direct every episode. They’re a half hour long. I wouldn’t mind doing it for Netflix but I’d want to shoot it on film. Showtime, HBO, Netflix, FX. But I also like the fact that I built up this mythology for Bounty Law and Jake Cahill." As far as Leonardo DiCaprio reprising his role, Tarantino said that he can't imagine that DiCaprio would do it, so he's not planning on the actor's involvement. Who knows whether this will actually happen, but it would be a neat project for Tarantino to tackle once he completes his tenth and final film.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD will hit theaters on July 26th.