Daily News: Tarantino adds more stars to 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood;' Paramount shuffles release dates for major blockbusters

The Venice Film Festival kicked off today with the exciting debut of Damien Chazelle's First Man, but if you're looking further ahead on the calendar, today also brought several intriguing tidbits of news for some 2019 and 2020 release. First, let's start with Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The popular auteur's ninth film has been in production for a while now, led by a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Timothy Olyphant, James Marsden, and many, many more. But that hasn't stopped Tarantino from adding new players to the growing ensemble. Just last week, Girls star Lena Dunham and Stranger Things up-and-comer Maya Hawke joined the cast, with Austin Butler and Lorenza Izzo signing up for supporting roles. I thought that announcement might finally mark the end of casting news for this film. I was wrong. 

Image courtesy of Sony Pictures

According to Entertainment Weekly, several actors have joined the cast of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The biggest names joining the film might be Rumer Willis and The Nice Guys star Margaret Qualley, but the most important piece of the puzzle is actor Damon Herriman, who will play Charles Manson. Since the project's inception, rumors have been swirling that Manson would be a major factor in the film's plot. Despite Tarantino's insistence that his new film is not about Charles Manson, the presence of Sharon Tate and several other Manson disciples as characters in the script confirmed previous theories. Some speculated that Marsden would be playing Manson, but the role went to Herriman, who starred with Olyphant on FX's Justified. Also joining the cast are Dreama Walker, Costa Ronin, Victoria Pedretti, and Madisen Beaty. 

At this point, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has to run well over three hours, right? While I know not all of these actors will get a substantial role, this is a whole lot of star power for one movie to handle. I'm excited about Qualley joining the cast, although this feels like familiar territory for her after a crucial role in Shane Black's aforementioned L.A. detective story. And even though I'm unfamiliar with his work, Herriman seems like a smart choice for Manson. Hopefully we see some footage from this movie sooner rather than later. 

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will hit theaters on July 26, 2019.

Time to switch gears to some of Paramount's hottest upcoming releases. Earlier today, the studio officially announced a sequel to John Krasinski's A Quiet Place, one of the biggest original smash hits of 2018 thus far. The untitled sequel, which will be set in the film's eerily silent world of terrors, is set to debut on May 15, 2020. It's unknown whether Krasinski or co-star Emily Blunt will return, but the follow-up will definitely find more competition in May. It'll hit theaters on the same day as both Warner Bros.' new animated Scooby-Doo film and an untitled Will Packer project, and it will face an additional challenge in Godzilla vs. Kong, set for release one week later. I liked A Quiet Place, but I also feel my skepticism about a sequel is justified. We're in wait and see mode. 

Paramount also made changes to its November 2019 slate. Sonic the Hedgehog will now arrive on November 8, followed by Tim Miller's Terminator reboot on November 15. Essentially, both films moved up a week. Sonic will potentially square off against Bond 25, while Terminator will have a little competition from an untitled Will Packer comedy and Margie Claus. With Frozen 2 set to dominate the conversation at the end of the month, it feels like a smart move to get ahead of that juggernaut.

But the big move of the day is perhaps the most unexpected one. Top Gun: Maverick (if it's still even called that), the long-awaited sequel to one of Tom Cruise's most iconic roles, has been pushed back nearly a year, shifting from July 12, 2019 to June 26, 2020. That wouldn't be all that surprising if the film wasn't already shooting. Per Deadline, the Joseph Kosinski-directed film needs more time for the production team to work out the flight sequences. But the good folks at Birth Movies Death are hearing some different rumors. In their report, they suggest that the shoot hasn't gone too smoothly, with the major date shift serving as evidence that things are going south on the set. Could be nothing, but this doesn't seem like a good omen. 

I've never seen Top Gun, nor do I care about a sequel. I'm honestly more fascinated to see another Hollywood blockbuster hit a very similar rough patch to films like Solo and Suicide Squad. However, there is one positive. With a cast led by Cruise, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Val Kilmer, Ed Harris, Lewis Pullman, and Thomasin McKenzie, Maverick can now stake out its position as one of the biggest blockbusters of the 2020 summer movie season. For now.

More to come soon.