Tarantino Calls ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’ The “Closest To ‘Pulp Fiction'” He’s Ever Done

Yesterday marked the beginning of CinemaCon, the yearly convention where movie studios make presentations to theater exhibitors, showcasing their biggest and best offerings over the next year. This year, Sony decided to surprise everyone and bring filmmaker Quentin Tarantino and Leonardo DiCaprio on stage to talk about their upcoming film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

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Tarantino is a pretty great hype man, who does well in front of a crowd, and last night, he got everyone talking when he said that ‘Once Upon’ is “probably the closest to ‘Pulp Fiction’ that I have done,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. Invoking the title “Pulp Fiction” is enough to send film fans’ minds racing.

While there’s not a lot of details known about the upcoming film, we do know the basic plot. “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” tells the story of a down-on-his-luck actor, along with his friend/stunt double, who are trying to navigate the changing Hollywood climate in 1969. Things get complicated when the actor’s neighbor, Sharon Tate, gets murdered by the Manson Family. While on paper, this doesn’t sound like a clear “Pulp Fiction”-inspired film, we’ll have to see what all Tarantino has up his sleeve before we can compare it to his most famous work.

Tarantino discussed the film some more, saying, “Sony and myself will be coming to the theaters with the most exciting star dynamic since Paul Newman and Robert Redford. It’s very hush-hush and top secret. But I can tell you that ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ takes place in 1969, at the height of the counterculture hippie revolution and the height of new Hollywood. Street by street, block by block, we’ll transform Los Angeles into the Hollywood of 1969.”

The duo he was talking about is none other than Brad Pitt and DiCaprio. The latter of which, said, “It’s hard to speak about a film that we haven’t done yet, but I’m incredibly excited…to work with Brad Pitt, and I think he’s going to transport us. I’m a huge fan of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ — movies about Hollywood. As an L.A. native, having read the script, it’s one of the most amazing screenplays. We are going to do our best job to make it fantastic.”

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” will hit theaters August 9, 2019.