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What's the Plot of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and What Does It Have to Do With Sharon Tate and Charles Manson?

The trailer for Quentin Tarantinos new film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has dropped. This is the directors first movie since 2015s The Hateful Eight, and also his first release since cutting all ties with The Weinstein Company. The trailer provides a glimpse of Tarantinos trademark style, and a mish-mash of fact and fiction which will be familiar to fans of his earlier film Inglourious Basterds.

What Is 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' About?

Heres what we know about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood so far, including details on the synopsis-and what it has to do with Sharon Tate and Charles Manson.

Blending original characters with one of the most infamous true crime cases of all time, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood incorporates original characters invented by Tarantino into one of the most infamous true crime cases of the 20 th century.

Set in 1969, the film follows fictitious actor Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth, whose quest to make it big in the film industry becomes increasingly entangled in the real life events which led up to the murder of actress Sharon Tate by the followers of Charles Manson. Within the narrative of the movie, the made-up Dalton lives next door to the real Tate, a circumstance which results in him crossing paths with some of the most famous figures of the time.

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Ive been working on this script for five years, as well as living in Los Angeles most of my life, including in 1969, when I was seven years old, Tarantino said in a statement. Im very excited to tell this story of an LA and a Hollywood that dont exist anymore.

The washed up Rick Dalton is played by Leonardo DiCaprio, while Brad Pitt plays his stunt double and long-time friend, Cliff Booth. Actors are required to do a lot of dangerous stuff. Cliff here is meant to help carry the load, DiCaprios character says in the trailer, to which Pitts Cliff replies: What, carrying his load? Yeah, thats about right.

Sharon Tate, the actress whose very real murder by the Manson family forms a major plot point in the film, is played by Margot Robbie. Dakota Fanning plays Lynette Squeaky Fromme, a member of the Manson family, and Emile Hirsch plays Jay Sebring, a Hollywood hairstylist who was another one of their victims. Manson himself is played by Damon Herriman, who previously played the same man in Netflix original series Mindhunter.

The trailer revealed that a number of Hollywoods late icons will be making cameos in the movie, including Mike Moh as Bruce Lee, and Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen.

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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood also marks the final film role of Luke Perry, who passed away earlier this month.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is expected to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, 25 years after Pulp Fiction made its debut there. The movies theatrical release was originally scheduled to coincide with the 50 th anniversary of the murders on August 9, however that has since been changed to July 26.

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