FILM 2051: ONCE UPON A TIME ... IN HOLLYWOOD

FILM 2051: ONCE UPON A TIME ... IN HOLLYWOOD

TRIVIA: Margot Robbie, who portrays Sharon Tate, wears some of Sharon Tate's real jewelry. Sharon Tate's sister, Debra, gave Robbie the jewelry to wear.

The Cadillac in this movie belongs to Michael Madsen. It also appeared in Reservoir Dogs written by Quentin Tarantino and driven by Madsen.

As the Tate party enters the El Coyote restaurant for dinner, Sharon Tate and Jay Sebring discuss a movie premiere they can see taking place further down Beverly Blvd. at an erotic movie theatre. "They have premieres for dirty movies?" asks Sharon. The theatre in question is the Eros, a real adult theatre of the time. The building still exists, though it is now a repertory cinema called The New Beverly, and it is owned by Quentin Tarantino.

Very rare for a Quentin Tarantino film, some scenes contained improvisation, particularly when Rick Dalton forgets his lines in "Lancer" and rants to himself privately in his trailer afterwards. Leonardo DiCaprio had a very difficult time playing Dalton's roles as Dalton would, rather than how he himself would, especially since Dalton is supposed to be an actor of hidden range, so he suggested Dalton forgetting his lines mid-scene to ironically help him stay in character as Dalton. The following scene in the trailer was also unscripted.

Quentin Tarantino described Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as "the most exciting star dynamic duo since Robert Redford and Paul Newman."

Burt Reynolds was originally cast as George Spahn, the ranch owner, but he died before he was scheduled to shoot his scenes. Bruce Dern replaced him in the role.

One of the Italian films that Rick stars in is directed by Antonio Margheriti; in Inglourious Basterds (2009), "Antonio Margheriti" is the alias used by Donny Donowitz to sneak into the premiere of "Nation's Pride".

This movie is one of two 2019 projects in which Damon Herriman plays Charles Manson, the other one being season two of Netflix's Mindhunter (2017).

The producers had some initial difficulties convincing Hollywood Boulevard vendors to allow their premises to be fitted with period facades to better reflect the 1960s, but after the production wrapped that section of the shoot, most of these same people asked if they could leave the facades in place, since they now preferred that period 'look' much more.

Tim Roth is credited as being part of "The Gang" (Quentin Tarantino's regulars), even though his scenes were cut from the movie.

Before the film's world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Quentin Tarantino begged from Cannes crowds to avoid spoilers for later audiences in a statement on social media. "I love cinema, You love cinema. It's the journey of discovering a story for the first time. I'm thrilled to be here in Cannes to share 'Once Upon A Time...in Hollywood' with the festival audience. The cast and crew have worked so hard to create something original, and I only ask that everyone avoids revealing anything that would prevent later audiences from experiencing the film in the same way. Thank you."

The party sequence at the Playboy Mansion was actually filmed there, Tarantino having been a guest of Hugh Hefner on a number of occasions while Hefner was still alive.

Quentin Tarantino was scheduled to make the film for The Weinstein Company. When the sexual assault allegations against co-chairman Harvey Weinstein were revealed in the press, Tarantino severed ties with The Weinstein Company and began summoning studio executives to his agent's office to read copies of his Manson script. The project was already one of the most anticipated and promising projects on the board at the time. After reading the script, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, and Lionsgate were welcome to make a bid for the theatrical right before a second round of bids pitched to Tarantino himself. Sony won the theatrical rights in the bidding war.

In an unprecedented film production move, a section of L.A.'s Hollywood Freeway (US-101) was completely shut down from 12pm to 2 pm for a sequence populated with period cars. No VFX were used to create this sequence.

The title is an homage to Sergio Leone, who directed both Once Upon a Time in the West(1968) and Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Quentin Tarantino has cited Leone as one of his favorite filmmakers and an influence throughout his career.

The casting of Kurt Russell and Zoe Bell as the man and wife stunt coordinators on The Green Hornet is a double inside joke to Tarantino's films. Russell previously played "Stuntman Mike" in Death Proof, in which Bell, a real-life stunt performer, also appeared playing herself.

At the film's world premiere screening at the Cannes film festival, the scene where Brad Pitt, 55, takes off his shirt to show off his still muscular stuntman physique, drew gasps and spontaneous applause from the audience, as reported by the BBC and Indiewire.

Maya Hawke and Rumer Willis both appear in the film. They are the daughters of Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis, respectively, who previously worked with Tarantino in Pulp Fiction (1994).

Cameo (Perla Haney-Jardine): The hippie who sells Cliff an acid-dipped cigarette. She previously appeared as B.B. in Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004).