Quentin Taratino’s ninth movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, is opening in theatres this weekend. The movie stars a long list of huge names, but viewers won’t get to see James Marsden as originally promised. Collider confirmed that Marsden played the actor Burt Reynolds in the film, but the part was cut for the theatrical version.
Reynolds himself was set to play George Spahn, the owner of the Spahn Ranch and an associate of the Manson family. However, after Reynolds passed away, Tarantino recast the role with Bruce Dern.
Marsden confirmed in June 2018 that he had a role in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but it wasn’t said what it was until this week. Collider’s editor, Jeff Sneider, wondered aloud if Marsden’s scene or scenes were cut from the movie following Reynolds’ death. Whatever the case, Reynolds gets “Special Thanks” in the movie’s end credits, according to Collider.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the fading actor Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt as his stunt double; Margot Robbie portrays Sharon Tate. Daktona Fanning, Lena Dunham, Timothy Olyphant, Margaret Qualley, Austin Butler, Kurt Russell, and Damon Herriman also feature. Luke Perry also appears in the movie in his last screen role following his death.
GameSpot’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood review scored it a 9/10.
“It succeeds immensely at being a fairy tale–a recounting of a time and place, an attempt to capture the essence of Hollywood’s golden age, one that came to an end in 1969–but, maybe for Tarantino, never really ended at all,” reviewer Michael Rougeau said.
In other news, it was recently reported that DiCaprio was paid $15 million USD–or $5 million USD below his normal per-movie fee–to star in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. However, he could end up making $45 million USD or more when all is said and done.