Leonardo DiCaprio, Quentin Tarantino crank up hype for movie with Brad Pitt at CinemaCon

Bryan Alexander | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Brad Pitt and Leo DiCaprio to star in Quentin Tarantino's new film Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio will be featured together for the first time in Quentin Tarantino's next movie, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," based on the Charles Manson murders.

LAS VEGAS — Quentin Tarantino wasn't shy about promoting his next film while sharing the stage with Leonardo DiCaprio during Monday night's surprise visit to CinemaCon 2018.

The acclaimed director talked for the first time about his next project, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring the big-time screen duo of DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, during the closing moments of the national convention of theater owners' first night.

Not a frame of the movie has been shot, but the hype is already underway for the drama, which is set for release on Aug. 9, 2019.

"In 2019, at the end of the summer, August, as they are setting off the last explosion of the last franchise movie of the summer, Sony and myself will be coming to the theaters with the most exciting star dynamic duo since Robert Redford and Paul Newman —Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," Tarantino said.

More: Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio to star in Tarantino's Sharon Tate film

Related: Can Tom Cruise climb again to CinemaCon glory?

The film marks Tarantino's first project since controversy erupted over his close relationship with disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and Kill Bill star Uma Thurman's accusations that Tarantino mistreated her on the set.

The movie is still shrouded in mystery. Tarantino didn't mention Once Upon a Time being a Sharon Tate project or dealing with cult leader Charles Manson, as the film has been described in previous reports.

In February, Sony Pictures announced the movie would center around two men who lived next door to Tate in the late 1960s.

Tate was killed by members of Manson's cult on Aug. 9, 1969, exactly 30 years prior to Once Upon a Time's release.

Also: Tom Hardy unleashes 'Venom' trailer

Earlier: Why you're seeing Sharon Tate's name in 2018

The film will take place at "the height of the counterculture explosion, at the time of the hippie revolution and the height of New Hollywood," Tarantino said. He promised to transform areas of Los Angeles into the "psychedelic era of Hollywood 1969" in making the film.

DiCaprio expressed enthusiasm about working with Pitt and his Django Unchained director.

"It's hard to speak about a film we haven’t shot a frame of, but I’m incredibly excited," DiCaprio said. "He’s going to transport us into a different era."

DiCaprio also promised that the work of Oscar-winning screenwriter Tarantino is "the most amazing screenplay he's ever written, and that's saying a lot."

Tarantino ended the discussion by literally dropping the mike on the Sony presentation.