"Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" - Excelsior High School

The pages about theatre locations used in "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood":
| Cinerama Dome - June 13, 2018 | Vogue, Pussycat and Egyptian - July 13 to July 23 | Grauman's Chinese - July 26 | Excelsior High School - September | Bruin and Fox Westwood Village - October 14 - 15 | Pantages and Vine - October 22 | Van Nuys Drive-In - October 24 | Earl Carroll Theatre - November 2 |

The campus of Excelsior High School in Norwalk was used as a studio backlot for the Bruce Lee scene. The shoot was in September 2018.

The school's auditorium is seen with a large poster for "Tora! Tora! Tora!" on the stagehouse. The location was used as a studio backlot for the sequence involving Bruce Lee. Photo: Jason Vega

In Katie Rife's article for AV Club, production designer Barbara Ling comments:

"...it’s unfortunate that we’re losing so much of moviedom in L.A., ironically enough. And it was also very funny—there’s a lot of TV now, which is great, but we couldn’t get a backlot for the sequence with Bruce Lee. I had to build the backlot! I said, we have to find something that’s industrial, or a school that was of the era when the studios were built. And they found a school down almost in Orange County that had closed, and become an adult school. And I thought, Okay, if I drive in here and I put this billboard up, and gate numbers and sound stage numbers, this could be Warner Brothers. So that was unexpected. We’re in a town full of them, but turns out you can’t just take over the exterior of a backlot. There’s too much going on."


Excelsior High School in the film:

A look at the "Tora! Tora! Tora!" poster on the auditorium's stagehouse. 

Kurt Russell comes over to see Brad Pitt, lounging beside Leo's trailer. Leo was trying to get Brad some work on a show being shot.

Mike Moh as Bruce Lee talking big and soon to get kicked by Brad.

The "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" pages:  
| back to top - Excelsior High School | Cinerama Dome | Vogue, Pussycat and Egyptian | Grauman's Chinese | Bruin and Fox Westwood Village | Pantages and Vine Theatre | Van Nuys Drive-In | Earl Carroll Theatre |