Quentin Tarantino Reveals Why He Scrapped His 10th and Final Movie

Quentin Tarantino has explained why he decided to scrap his project “The Movie Critic,” which was supposed to be his 10th film and, if he keeps his promise, his final one. The director shared his thoughts in a wide-ranging interview on the Church of Tarantino podcast, recorded at his Los Angeles coffee shop, Pam’s Coffy.

Tarantino said he lost excitement for the project while in pre-production. “I wasn’t really excited about dramatizing what I wrote when I was in pre-production, partly because I’m using the skillset that I learned from ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ [of] ‘How are we going to turn Los Angeles into the Hollywood of 1969 without using CGI?’ It was something we had to pull off. We had to achieve it. It wasn’t for sure that we could do it… ‘The Movie Critic,’ there was nothing to figure out. I already kind of knew, more or less, how to turn L.A. into an older time. It was too much like the last one.”

Originally, “The Movie Critic” was planned as an eight-episode TV series set in 1977. Tarantino teased the project in 2022 and clarified that it was not connected to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” despite rumors.

Brad Pitt had been cast, which led many to believe he might reprise his role as Cliff Booth. “There were no shared characters between the two stories, though I called ‘The Movie Critic’ a spiritual sequel,” Tarantino explained. He also said he might return to the project someday, since the script is already written.

Tarantino admitted that he liked the idea of “The Movie Critic,” but felt it presented a unique challenge. “The thing about ‘The Movie Critic’ is I really, really like it. But there was a challenge that I gave to myself when I did it. ‘Can I take the most boring profession in the world and make it an interesting movie? Who wants to see a TV show about a f*****g movie critic? Who wants to see a movie called ‘The Movie Critic’? That was the test. If I can actually make a movie or a TV show about someone who actually watches movies interesting, that is an accomplishment. And I think I did that.”

After shelving “The Movie Critic,” Tarantino started working on “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” a direct sequel to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” Unlike his usual projects, this Netflix film is directed by David Fincher, with Tarantino writing and producing.

Tarantino also addressed why he is stopping at ten films. He has long promised that his next movie will be his last. “It’s a little crazy to listen to podcasts and hear all these amateur psychiatrists psychoanalyze as if they f*****g know what they’re talking about… that I’m so scared of my 10th film. I’m not paralyzed with fear. Trust me,” he said. For Tarantino, stopping at ten films is about leaving his career on his own terms, without stretching his work too far or losing creative energy.

Outside of film, he plans to open a play on the West End in London in 2026 before returning to his final feature. Tarantino’s careful approach shows that he wants to make his last movie meaningful, original, and worth ending his legendary career on a high note.

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