There's an emotional change being made to the cast of Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. While Burt Reynolds was set to play ranch owner George Spahn, he died earlier this month before he could work on the film. Now Reynolds' longtime friend Bruce Dern is taking on the role.
Dern, who previously worked with Tarantino on The Hateful Eight, will play Spahn, an 80-year-old near-blind man who rented his Los Angeles ranch out to be used as the location for Westerns. Notorious criminal and cult leader Charles Manson convinced Spahn to allow him and his followers to live on the ranch, in the months before they murdered Sharon Tate (played in the film by Margot Robbie) and six others.
Set in the summer of 1969 at the height of the Manson crimes, Tarantino's latest follows various characters, but focuses on former Western TV series star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), men trying to find their way in a Hollywood neither man recognises.
With the Timothy Olyphant, Al Pacino, Tim Roth, Dakota Fanning, Damian Lewis and Michael Madsen just a sampling of the film's sprawling cast, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood will be out on 26 July next year.
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