By MICHAEL GINGOLD
After a heavy-duty bidding war for the ninth feature by writer/director Quentin Tarantino (as we reported here), one studio has won the rights to the movie, which begins shooting next year.
Deadline reports that Sony Pictures will finance and distribute the film, which is simply known as #9 at this point. The word up until this point has been that it focuses on Charles Manson and the murders committed by his followers, but the site now says that the crimes are just one part of a wider story set in the late 1960s and early ’70s. Manson victim Sharon Tate is a key character, however, and Tarantino is anxious to have Margot Robbie play that role; the filmmaker has also had talks with Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt for two leading male parts. Like all of Tarantino’s movies, #9 will be R-rated, and a budget in the $100-million range was part of his terms for making the studio deal.
