By MICHAEL GINGOLD
With the Weinstein Company imploding due to the scandal surrounding Harvey Weinstein, Quentin Tarantino is taking his currently untitled movie involving the Charles Manson murders elsewhere, and a trio of studios are contending for it.
Variety reports that Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. are in the running to take on Tarantino’s project, for which the terms are steep: The writer/director is asking for a budget around $100 million, first-dollar gross participation and final cut. According to the trade, the studios are pitching hard to land the movie, which is set largely in August 1969, when Manson’s followers brutally murdered Sharon Tate and four other people. In the case of Warner Bros., “When Tarantino arrived at the studio’s Burbank lot, he found the circular entrance in front of the administration building adorned with cars from the late 1960s. The Warner Bros. logo circa 1969 was on the marquee outside the studio, and the executive conference room was outfitted with vintage furniture from the era and mock posters for the movie.”
It turns out that Manson is not the movie’s only subject; according to IndieWire, the filmmaker cryptically said, “It’s not Charles Manson, it’s 1969” at a recent event. Casting has not been nailed down, though Tarantino reportedly wants to work with past collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson and Brad Pitt, and has met with Jennifer Lawrence and Margot Robbie about roles. Stay tuned for further developments.
