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Quentin Tarantino kept 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' script locked in a safe to stop leaks

Tarantino on the set of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Credit: Sony)
Tarantino on the set of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (Credit: Sony)

Quentin Tarantino kept the script for his new movie Once Upon A Time In Hollywood under lock and key, to prevent details of the plot leaking.

The director had a previous bad experience with his last movie, The Hateful Eight in 2014, when the script, which had only been issued to key staff, was leaked.

Tarantino said at the time that the incident made him feel 'very, very depressed', and though he announced he was quitting the project, he later changed his mind.

But according to his long-time cinematographer Robert Richardson, the director is now ultra-cautious, going as far as keeping the script for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood in a safe.

Read more: Bruce Lee’s daughter slams Tarantino

In an interview with Business Insider, Richardson said that even he didn't get to see the finished script into far into the film's production, and that only Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie saw it in its entirety, and even then could only read it at Tarantino's house.

(Credit: Sony)
(Credit: Sony)

“While we were in the production office, we went in a room with the ending,” Richardson said.

“It was taken from a safe and they handed it to only those people who require it to be able to perform their tasks that are necessary.”

Speaking to Deadline, earlier this month, Tarantino's revealed that one other person did read the script, however – a mutual friend of director Roman Polanski.

Read more: Tarantino bristles at Margot Robbie question

Polanski, who has been living in Europe having fled there in the 1970s after a conviction for rape, features in the movie, which concerns the murder of Sharon Tate, Polanski's then wife, at the hands of the Manson Family cult.

In the movie, Tate, who was pregnant at the time of her murder, is played by Robbie.

(Credit: Sony)
(Credit: Sony)

“When it comes to Roman Polanski we’re talking about a tragedy that would be unfathomable for most human beings,” Tarantino said.

“I mean there’s Sharon, there’s his unborn son that literally lived without ever being born. That’s just a crazy sentence even to say. I felt that the story of her death, and the Manson tragedy had moved into legit history.

“So it actually is of historical importance beyond just his own personal tragedy. So I felt I was on OK grounds there. I didn’t want to call him and talk to him while I was writing it because I’m not going to ask him permission. I’m going to do it, all right?

Read more: First poster for new Tarantino movie mocked

“I don’t think he needed any anxiety and I didn’t need any anxiety as far as that was concerned. However, after it was finished, he got wind of it and he reached out through a mutual friend. That friend called me and said, so what’s up with this? He said that Roman wasn’t mad. He didn’t call up irate or anything. He was just curious. What is this?

“So what I did was…Roman’s obviously stuck in Europe. I had the friend come over and read the script. He came to my house. He read the script simply so he could call Roman up and tell him the idea and what’s in it. And basically that he didn’t have anything to worry about.”

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood lands in the UK on 13 August.