Quentin Tarantinoās plans for a his final work are pushed back, as he directs his attention towards a stage play instead.
In 2023, Quentin Tarantino came close to entering production on what he has long said would be his final film. The project was The Movie Critic, and as far as we know, it was only the Hollywood strikes that year that prevented the project from going before cameras.
In an alternative world where writers, actors and studios all reached a pre-emptive deal, nobody went on strike and The Movie Critic was made. Quentin Tarantino exits the filmmaking business and for the first time in decades, fans of his work have to come to terms with the fact that they may never see another new film from him again.
Coming so close to entering a self-imposed retirement seems to have left Tarantino in no rush to speed up his exit from filmmaking. Instead, heās been noodling with other things rather than mounting a new project, and that includes a stage play. Speaking to Elvis Mitchell at the Sundance Film Festival, Tarantino said: “If you’re wondering what I’m doing right now. I’m writing a play. It’s probably going to be the next thing I end up doing. If it’s a fiasco I probably won’t turn it into a movie. But if it’s a smash hit? It might be my last movie.”
So perhaps Tarantino is working on his next film project, in a roundabout fashion. Although, given how understandably annoyed he was about The Hateful Eight's script leaking online before the film even went into production, how would he feel about making a film based on a story of his that everybody will already be familiar with?
As for a timeline, Quentin Tarantino revealed that he wants his son to be at least a year older before he embarks on his final film ā that way he can make some pretty special memories with him throughout the filmmaking process:
āThe idea of jumping on a voyage when they’re too young to understand it is not enticing to me,ā he explained. āI want to not do whatever movie I end up doing until my son is at least six. That way he’ll know what’s going on, he’ll be there and it will be a memory for the rest of his life.”
All of that is fair enough, although this arbitary number of ten films is still a little perplexing, even if Tarantinoās argument that filmmakers naturally decline in ability as they age does have some merit (still, Mike Leigh is in his early 80s, and has just made one of his best with Hard Truths).
Considering just how self-aware his films are, weād bank on Tarantino being able to recognise when heād hit that point and choose to exit filmmaking then, be it after then films, 12 films or whatever the number may be. But thatās his choice and at the present, it looks like a course of action that he remains steadfastly committed to.
No idea what the play is, of course. Perhaps itās going to be a panto. Thatād be quite the handbrake turnā¦