This summer will mark five years since Quentin Tarantino‘s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was released. Since then, there have been a number of reports about what Tarantino’s next project will be. At one point there was some serious back and forth about him directing a “Star Trek“ film, but when the dust settled, the focus seemed to be on a project titled, “The Movie Critic.” Well, if you had your hopes up for that, prepare to have them seriously let down.
If there has been one consistent story related to Tarantino’s tenth film, it’s that it will be his last. The screenwriter/director has been pretty upfront about that for several years. He’s of the opinion that directors tend to make lesser works the older they get, and he wants to go out on the top of his game. Regardless of the logic behind his decision, it seemed like things were steadily moving forward for “The Movie Critic” to be the movie for Tarantino to go out on.
But now multiple sources indicate he’s scrapped “The Movie Critic,” and is back to the drawing board on his final film.
What makes this move particularly stunning is that it seemed pretty far along, almost a done deal. Reports indicated Brad Pitt would be returning to his role of Cliff Booth from the aforementioned “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” A day of filming was even said to be set for this coming August in order to qualify for a tax credit from the state of California. While there’s yet to be official word from Tarantino, sources indicate he just…changed his mind about doing it.
This is not the first time Tarantino backed out of something. He has more unrealized projects than he does completed films. Seriously, when people can make a Wikipedia page about all the things you said you’d make but didn’t, then having a project actually succeed in coming to life is an achievement unto itself. Even “The Hateful Eight” was cancelled for a time before being revitalized. Who knows if the same thing will happen with “The Movie Critic?”
It’s easy to speculate without official word from Tarantino himself, but even then the director has been notoriously hard to nail down when it comes to what he’s working on next. If he actually does hold firm to his tenth project being his final one, then it’s understandable that he wants to make sure he picks the right project to end on. So, we’ll wait and see what happens next and if Quentin has any comments on the subject, if he decides to say something at all. Then we’ll find out what actually happens first- Tarantino’s final film, or a a new “Star Trek” movie.
