Quentin Tarantino has offered an explanation for why he scrapped plans to direct his script “The Movie Critic,” which would’ve marked his 10th film — and his final one, if he does keep his years-long promise that he will stop helming features at that count.
“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?’” Tarantino explained in a career-spanning conversation on the Church of Tarantino podcast, recorded in Los Angeles at his coffee shop Pam’s Coffy. “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.”
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Tarantino also explained that “The Movie Critic” was set in 1977 and began development as an eight-episode TV series, a project that he had teased was in the works in 2022.
He also clarified that the story of “The Movie Critic” had nothing to do with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” despite rumors that the project was a narrative follow-up. Brad Pitt had been cast in a lead role, leading to speculation that the star would be reprising his “Once Upon a Time” role of Cliff Booth. Tarantino said that there were no shared characters between the two stories, though he called “The Movie Critic” a “spiritual sequel.” He also suggested that he could loop back to the project should he change his mind about it, as it’s already written.
“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?’” Tarantino said. “Who wants to see a TV show about a fucking 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.”
The director continued by saying that he began work on “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” the actual sequel to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” shortly after walking away from “The Movie Critic.” The Netflix production, which is now shooting in Los Angeles, is written and produced by Tarantino, but David Fincher is directing. In the meantime, Tarantino is planning to open a play on the West End in London in 2026 before working on his 10th (and allegedly final) feature film.
“It’s a little crazy to listen to podcasts and hear all these amateur psychiatrists psychoanalyze as if they fucking know what they’re talking about about what’s going on with me, about how I’m so scared, alright, of my 10th film,” Tarantino said, launching into an impression for his speculative fans. “‘Oh my god! Oh my god! I’m so fragile about my legacy. What’s going on? I’m paralyzed with fear!’ I’m not paralyzed with fear. Trust me.”
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