Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

[chris]

Michael Madsen's yellow Cadillac has more screen time than he does in the film.

[harry]

At one point, a theater marquee can be seen advertising a movie which is Rated "M." Contrary to popular believe, this does NOT mean "Adults Only" or "Mature Audiences Only." The original MPAA ratings for film content, which would have come into effect not long before the time the film is set, were G (General Audiences, still in use today), M, R (Restricted, still in use today), and X (Adults Only). As the M rating confused audiences (they didn't know if an M or an R movie was stronger in its content), the M rating was eventually changed to GP, and not long thereafter, to PG (Parental Guidance Suggested), which is still in use today. Long story short, the M rating is the earliest incarnation of the PG rating, and most certainly DOES NOT mean "Mature Audiences Only!"

[addison]

The ending was deliberately omitted from copies of scripts in order to keep it secret from everyone including the studio. The only persons who really knew the ending right at the beginning of production apart from Quentin Tarantino were the lead actors themselves and a close friend of Roman Polanski whom Tarantino showed the entire script. Robert Richardson said that he and other main crew members were only told of it two months prior to filming the climax. Others knew much later into filming or during post-production; an example would be that Margaret Qualley only found out through Brad Pitt while filming at the Spahn Ranch set.

[alyssa]

The character "Francesca Cappucci" was most likely named after a real-life Los Angeles media personality who gained notoriety in the 80s and 90s, first as a news reader for radio station KLOS, then as the on-air music reporter for sister station KABC.

[lonnie]

This is the first collaboration for Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio.

[darrell]

The movie establishes that Sharon and friends aren't killed by Charles Manson's followers after these ones decide to attack Dalton's house instead Polanski's house, creating an alternate reality. In the previous Tarantino's movie, Inglourious Basterds (2009), it establishes that Aldo Raine's squad kills Adolf Hilter and the main staff of the Third Reich, creating an alternate reality. Oddly enough, both movies are starred by Brad Pitt.

[bryan]

For Quentin Tarantino, this movie is his love letter to L.A.

[richard]

Leonardo DiCaprio & Brad Pitt got along so well during the production that they confirmed at the film's Cannes premiere that they would love to team up again on another film.

[gabriel]

James Marsden and Clifton Collins Jr. previously worked together on Westworld (2016).

[chris]

Quentin Tarantino was scheduled to make the film for The Weinstein Company but severed the ties when the sexual assault allegations against co-chairman Harvey Weinstein were revealed in the press. To avoid a repeat of the script leak incident that almost cost him The Hateful Eight (2015), he wrote a memo to all theatrical studios, summoning them to send one representative to his agent's (The William Morris Endeavor) office in Beverly Hills to read his Manson script in person at an arranged time and date. The memo also mandated that each representative was required to sign a heavy non-disclosure agreement, read the script in person (they were not allowed to copy or take the script back), and present the list of demands and conditions to the studio management. This project was already one of the most anticipated and promising projects on the board at the time. After reading the script, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Annapurna Pictures, and Lionsgate were welcome to make a bid for the theatrical right before a second round of bids pitched to Tarantino himself. Sony won the theatrical rights in the bidding war outbidding its closest rival Warner Bros., making it the first David Heyman production not to be distributed by Warner.

[fred]

Rick guest stars in an episode of Lancer (1968) directed by Sam Wanamaker, played by actor Nicholas Hammond. Wanamaker's daughter, actress Zoë Wanamaker played Madame Hooch in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). Both that film and this one were produced by David Heyman. Coincidentally, both Hammond and Wanamaker are expatriates: Hammond lives in Australia and Wanamaker moved to England in 1951 to avoid the Hollywood Blacklist and ended up settling there.

[jamie]

The character "Flower Child," who is shown having cold feet on going through with the murders, and who flees the scene in the Rambler, is based on Linda Kasabian, who became a witness for the prosecution in the murder trial of Tex Watson, Patricia Krenwinkel, and Susan Atkins. In real-life Kasabian was ordered by Tex Watson to wait in the car, during which she heard the murders inside the Tate residence take place and witnessed the murder of Wojciech Frykowski outside the house. Kasabian claimed she wanted to drive away, but was too scared.

[gabriel]

WILHELM SCREAM: The movie opens with a clip from the fictional Rick Dalton series "Bounty Law." A man is shot and falls off a roof, at which point he lets out a big Wilhelm scream, an inside joke in the movie industry which pops up in several other Tarantino films.

[fred]

In addition to his on-screen role, Kurt Russell provides the voice of the off-screen narrator.

[wesley]

Originally skeptical of the project, Sharon Tate's sister Debra Tate gave the film and Margot's portrayal of Sharon her blessing after Debra was embraced by Tarantino himself and became aware of how her sister would be represented within the film. Debra referred to Margot as a "dedicated craftsman," and praised the actress's research of Sharon prior to meeting with her.

[harry]

Emile Hirsch, Timothy Olyphant and James Remar previously worked together on The Girl Next Door (2004).

[jesus]

After Rick and Cliff left the bar in the beginning of the movie, a news bulletin can be heard coming from the car radio. It is about Sirhan Sirhan, who murdered Senator Robert F. Kennedy who won the Democratic primary in California in 1968 and was shot after giving his victory speech. The events in the scene play on February 8, 1969, which was two days before Sirhan pled guilty to first-degree murder.

[harry]

In an unprecedented film production move, a section of L.A.'s Hollywood Freeway (US-101) was completely shut down from 12pm to 2pm for a sequence populated with period cars. No VFX were used to create this sequence.

[gabriel]

Leonardo DiCaprio undertook a strict workout routine in order to convincingly play an action star, giving up pasta and desserts and doing hundreds of pushups a day.