Quentin Tarantino is attempting to court Burt Reynolds to play George Spahn, the star of his upcoming film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. He’s also hoping to snag Reynold’s The Hateful Eight co-stars Tom Roth, Kurt Russell, and Michael Madsen to play small roles in the film, according to an exclusive from Deadline. If they accept, the four actors will be joining Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, who are already cast for the film.
Reynolds would play George Spahn, an 80-year-old blind man who allowed Charles Manson and his followers to live on his LA ranch previously rented out for filming Westerns. Manson and his followers stayed on the ranch in the months before the murder of Sharon Tate and others. In exchange, some of Manson's female followers slept with Spahn and served as seeing-eye guides.
The film takes place in the summer of 1969, at the height of “hippy Hollywood.” While the setting builds up to the Manson murders, Western actor Rick Dalton (played by DiCaprio), and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (played by Pitt), are to get by in a changing Hollywood. This all ties together, as Rick is Sharon Tate’s next door neighbor.
The 82-year-old previously starred in the 1997 period piece Boogie Nights, directed and written by Paul Thomas Anderson, but hated the film because he thought Anderson was “young and full of himself." But this film seems to be a more promising actor-director pairing, and a great opportunity as a comeback for Reynolds. According to Deadline, Tarantino is also in talks with Margot Robbie to play Sharon Tate in the film.
The film is currently set for August 9, 2019 release worldwide.
