Tarantino has apparently decided to kill off the lead from his movie Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Not on the screen, mind you, but in a tweet posted on May 19, 2023.
Tarantino is no stranger to weaving a dense fictional narrative that exists outside his films' confines. However, no property exemplifies Tarantino's commitment to worldbuilding like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Taking place in an alternative version of 1960s Hollywood, OUTIH recounts the stories of Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, as well as fictionalized backstories for countless movie stars of the era. With a runtime that's knocking on three hours, one would think that Tarantino would've been able to cram every element he desired into his penultimate film, but shortly after OUTIH's cinematic release, the director penned a novel that filled in the film's blanks.
In the novel, fans of the story discovered that Leonardo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton not only revitalized his stalled career as an actor but also reached a new stratum of celebrity after the events of OUTIH. Well, according to the official Twitter page for Tarantino's Video Archives podcast, Rick Dalton passed away on May 19, 2023.
