It has been a year and a half since The Hateful Eight hit the silver screen, which means we were nearing the point where we might start hearing details about the next film from Quentin Tarantino. The wait is over. Yesterday, broke the news that the acclaimed filmmaker is readying a picture centered around the Manson Family and murder spree during the summer of 1969.
This project appears to have taken precedence of the Australia-set crime film that he’d mused about publicly not long ago. Whether that project is still a potential one for Tarantino is anyone’s guess, but if THR is right, the Manson film is full steam ahead. According to the outlet, Bob and Harvey Weinstein will once again produce the picture for Quentin and stars such as Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence are already circling roles.
pitched in with further information, claiming that Samuel L. Jackson is also up for a part and none other than Margot Robbie is the auteur’s #1 pick to portray the actress Sharon Tate. Tate, who was pregnant and married to filmmaker Roman Polanski at the time, was tragically murdered during the Manson Family’s reign of terror that summer.
There’s no clear word at this time as to what roles Pitt, Lawrence, and Jackson might take in the production or what other Tarantino regulars might be involved. Given that the majority of both the victims and the Manson Family were comprised of young people, it seems unlikely that these roles will be filled by his usual acting troupe. Chances are his usual favorites will instead take on supporting roles elsewhere in the film, with the younger leads being inhabited by newer talent. On a personal level, I would love to see Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Pam Grier, Michael Fassbender, and Walton Goggins involved in some capacity, but it’s just too early to tell how things will shake out.
Both reports indicate that The Weinstein Company is looking to partner with a major studio on the film. Given his past relationship with them, both Universal and Sony seem likely candidates, although I imagine most studios would want a shot at being involved. All signs currently point towards a mid-2018 start date, which means the film is unlikely to arrive until sometime in 2019. Such a release would also coincide with the 50th anniversary of the murders, so look for it to hit as the media at large revisits the tragedies of that summer.
Beyond that, we know next to nothing about Tarantino’s approach here. Will it be a straightforward retelling of those terrible events? Will it be told in a non-linear fashion, flashing back to certain events? Will it take an alternate history approach, much like Inglourious Basterds did with World War II? Will Charles Manson and the family be the primary focus or simply background characters? What genres might he evoke in his telling of the tale (i.e. acid trip hippy flicks, hard-boiled true crime, horror, procedural, etc.)? What tone will he strike with it all? It’s just too early to say at this point.
This, of course, won’t be the first time such events have been dramatized. There have been numerous documentaries over the years, but in the realm of narrative cinema, three projects stand out most. The first is the 1976 CBHS miniseries Helter Skelter, which starred Steve Railsback in a dynamite performance as Manson. The second was Jim Van Bebber’s far more esoteric low budget offering, The Manson Family, which was primarily shot in the late ’80s, but not actually completed until 2003. The third came in 2004, when CBS crafted another miniseries titled Helter Skelter, with Jeremy Davies in the role of Manson.
Most recently, NBC aired the short-lived series “Aquarius“, which starred David Duchovny and focus heavily on Manson and those around him in the lead up to the murders. “Aquarius” only lasted two seasons, but is readily available on streaming services. Tarantino pals Rob Zombie and Bret Easton Ellis also attempted to mount a miniseries of their own about the events in recent years, but it ultimately fell apart.
For better or worse, an obsession with Manson still runs strong in Hollywood.
