There have been rumors, started by Quentin Tarantino himself, that his next film, The Movie Critic, would be his last one. The director has remained pretty ambiguous about this statement, and while he might be done making movies, he is undoubtedly not leaving Hollywood forever. The man loves it too much.
Tarantino recently spoke with Deadline about his upcoming project and seemingly confirmed that his next film would be his last (if you believe him, which the interviewer sure didn’t). But when pressed for more details, the director said he would be interested in exploring other forms of Hollywood exploitation tales and various foot footage. Foot-age, if you will.
“I could do a TV show,” Tarantino said, explaining that he wasn’t ready to hang up his directing hat just yet. “I didn’t say I’m going to go into the night darkly, all right? I could do a TV show. I could do a short film. I could do a play. All kinds of things I could do, but I’ll probably just be more of a writer.” What Tarantino didn’t say is that he would be open to acting again. This takes From Dusk Till Dawn 2 off the table… for now.
He then added that he is done with directing because it is simply his time, which is also something parents say when they are about to euthanize the family dog. It hurts, but it makes sense. “It’s just time. It’s just time to go out,” Tarantino said. “I like the idea of going out on top. I like the idea of giving it my all for 30 years and then saying, ‘OK, that’s enough.’ And I don’t like working to diminishing returns. And I mean, now is a good time because I mean, what even is a motion picture anyway anymore? Is it just something that they show on Apple? That would be diminishing returns.”
If Tarantino wanted to venture into television, he would probably have to make some sort of deal with HBO (Max?) or even Apple, because you know ABC or CBS would not welcome that amount of blood and violence on a primetime cable slot. Of course, Tarantino doesn’t shy away from talking smack about streamers, so maybe he will go the play route and set something up for the stage. What is the rule about gore and blood in Broadway musicals now? He should start doing his research.