By Salim Garami
What's good?
Earlier this summer in July, Palme d'Or and Oscar winner Quentin Tarantino had announced the development of his ninth feature film (assuming Kill Bill considered as one work on his part): a movie revolving around the infamous Charles Manson family cult and their terrorizing in Hollywood in 1969. Reportedly, the focus is not going to be on Manson himself but orbiting him as it was also announced that Margot Robbie is slated to play his most notorious victim, the late actress Sharon Tate (of Valley of the Dolls and The Fearless Vampire Killers fame).
None of this is particularly news at this point, nor is the fact that Tarantino removed the production away from the Weinstein Company in the aftermath of the overwhelming amount of sexual allegations against company co-founder and former co-chairman Harvey Weinstein.
What is news is a newfound bidding war...
With the Weinsteins out of the picture there's a battle going on between the major studios for the production, namely between Warner Bros., Sony, and Paramount. Meanwhile, David Heyman of the Harry Potter franchise has been announced to stand at Tarantino's side as his new producer for the upcoming picture, which probably promises that Heyman's regular studio partner Warner Bros. will be the one winning the bid overall and Tarantino will find his new home there. It probably helped that WB reportedly had its backlot dressed up with the 1969 logo in order to further entice Tarantino into their dealings.
In addition to Heyman, Robbie, and Tarantino's collaborative composer and spaghetti western legend Ennio Morricone joining Tarantino's little family of his own, three big name actors were revealed to be in talks and discussions of joining the cast - two of them stars of Tarantino's previous films. Brad Pitt (Inglourious Basterds), Leonardo DiCaprio (Django Unchained) and most recently Tom Cruise have all been spoken to Tarantino about possible involvement with the film without any final confirmations yet.
In the end, it's evident that leaving a studio behind in the dust isn't slowing down Tarantino's process in the slightest and the film should be expected to get filming within the middle of next year. What studio do you think would make the best fit for Tarantino's style? How do you think Tarantino will handle this dark material?