True Romance is a 1993 American romantic crime drama film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with James Gandolfini, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken in supporting roles. Slater and Arquette portray newlyweds who head to California with a stolen suitcase of drugs, with the Mafia in close pursuit and their future very uncertain. True Romance began as an early script by Tarantino; he sold the screenplay in order to finance his debut feature film, Reservoir Dogs (1992).