Quentin Tarantino is on the promotional tour for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and he has revealed some interesting information. Within the movie, there is the fictional ’50s TV series we get a glimpse of that stars Rick Dalton, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character. Tarantino has revealed he wrote a whole series around Dalton’s time on Bounty Law. With the director announcing his eminent retirement from making movies, many expected him to chill out. However, it doesn’t look like that will be the case.
When asked about what he wanted to achieve after writing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino says, “I wrote a play and I wrote five episodes of a TV series. It’s Bounty Law.” When making his upcoming movie, Tarantino did a ton of research on old Western TV shows and it got him thinking. He explains.
“From watching the different old Western shows and everything, I did it to get in the head of Bounty Law. I ended up starting to really like the idea of Jake Cahill, as a character. I really started loving those half hour ’50s Western scripts. The idea that you could write something like 24 minutes, where there was so much story crammed in those half hour shows, with a real beginning and a middle and an end. Also it was kind of fun because you can’t just keep doubling down and exploring. At some point, you’ve got to wrap it up. I really liked that idea. I’ve written five different episodes for a possible Bounty Law black-and-white half hour Western show.”
As for what Quentin Tarantino will do with Bounty Law, that’s unclear at the moment. However, the director seems intent to put it out at some point, regardless of who stars in it or where it ends up landing. Once Tarantino gets his mind going on something, it’s usually going to happen. He had this to say when asked what his goal for the series is.
“I can’t imagine Leonardo is going to want to do it. Cast somebody else? If he wants to do it that would be great. I’m not planning on that but I have an outline for about three other episodes. So I’ll probably write about three other episodes and then just do it. Direct every episode. They’re a half hour long. I wouldn’t mind doing it for Netflix but I’d want to shoot it on film. Showtime, HBO, Netflix, FX. But I also like the fact that I built up this mythology for Bounty Law and Jake Cahill.”
Quentin Tarantino seems to be on a Western kick these days. But, what it really shows is the dedication to nail every aspect of a character he has developed. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt both had to learn about and collaborate on their characters, but Tarantino has it all stored away in his head for future use. When asked about going the extra mile, even though the audience will more than likely never know, Tarantino spoke of its importance to him. He explains.
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“It’s very important. I can go through Rick Dalton’s filmography, film by film, every director he worked with, and the anecdotes on the set and how he got the role and what happened. Did it do well? Did it not do well? Is it a good movie? Is it not a good movie? In order. It’s not important at all for the audience. Usually, at the end of the day, the average audience member doesn’t need to know that but I think they need to know I know that. They need to know that I take this mythology this history seriously, and that there are answers to these questions. I don’t have to vomit it out but if you ask I could tell you. The writer needs to know that mythology backwards and forwards. You need to be able to throw it off with the expertise of an expert.”
Quentin Tarantino may very well go on to make the Western from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood a reality. Will Leonardo DiCaprio come back on board to play the character? While the director doesn’t think so at this time, stranger things have happened. We’ll just have to all wait and see. The interview with Tarantino was originally conducted by Deadline.
