By Chris Kavan - 07/24/19 at 11:24 PM CT
The Lion King roared into theaters with a July record opening and I don't think the CGI almost realistic version is going to give up its crown this weekend. There is once again just a single new wide release and through it is from the mind of Quentin Tarantino and has some serious star power, it's just not going to be a match for families and nostalgia. But Tarantino should easily take the second-place spot and we'll see how well a period piece about a fading star at the end of Hollywood's Golden Age plays out.
ONCE UPON A TIME ...IN HOLLYWOOD Quentin Tarantino has tackled robberies gone wrong, alternate-history Nazi Germany, a revenge-fueled Kung Fu epic, serial killers, gimps, tense standoffs and so, so many memorable characters and quotable lines. For his ninth feature, Tarantino takes on Hollywood - 1969 Hollywood - following a fading star, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his long-time stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). But theirs is not the only story as in 1969 Hollywood a man by the name of Charlie Manson (Damon Herriman) was building a community, populated by the likes of Squeaky Fromme (Dakota Fanning) and Pussycat (Margaret Qualley) and which Booth finds himself getting involved with. While the film is fictional, it is based on true events - thus many characters are based on real people. This included actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) who will have a fatal run-in with Manson's family as well as some figures that were big in Hollywood at the time like Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), hair-stylist the stars Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch), Steve McQueen (Damian Lewis), producer Marvin Schwarzs (Al Pacino), TV western star Wayne Maunder (Luke Perry), heiress and Manson victim Abigail Folger (Samantha Robinson), Spahn Movie Ranch owner George Spahn (Bruce Dern) and actress Joanna Pettet (Rumer Willis) all appear in what looks to be a nice, diverse slice of both TV/movie references. Tarantino always manages to make the dialogue snappy and has some of the best music choices in pretty much everything. Thus I know I am looking forward to this - even if it doesn't match Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill, I have yet to be disappointed by Tarantino and I don't think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is going to be the first to do so.
While the weekend is sure to won by The Lion King once again, it will be interesting to see how this R-rated ode to Hollywood turns out for Tarantino. I'll be back on Sunday with all the juicy details.
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