Tarantino no longer serves as the director. - Quentin Tarantino abstains from directing films.
Quentin Tarantino, the renowned director behind iconic films such as "Pulp Fiction", "Reservoir Dogs", "Inglourious Basterds", and "The Hateful Eight", had a new project in the works - a film titled "The Movie Critic". Initially slated for release in 1977 California, the film centred around a movie reviewer writing for a fictional pornographic magazine called The Popstar Pages.
However, the project was never realised. Tarantino, in a podcast interview, revealed that he cancelled "The Movie Critic" due to creative concerns and its similarity to his earlier work, specifically his 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film's story and setting were too close to his previous work, and he lost enthusiasm for the project, especially since it relied on similar filmmaking techniques he had used before[1][2][3].
Initially, the film's concept shifted briefly into a sequel involving Brad Pitt's character from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but that idea was also dropped[1]. The final intent was that The Movie Critic would have been a spiritual sequel with no overlap of characters from the earlier film.
Tarantino had initially planned to direct "The Movie Critic", but he decided not to take the reins for the sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Instead, the project will be directed by David Fincher, known for films such as "Fight Club" (1999) and "Gone Girl" (2014).
Brad Pitt, who played Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, will be reprising his role in the sequel, which is scheduled to be released in April 2025 and will be produced by Netflix. Despite speculation, there were no crossover characters, and Cliff Booth did not appear in "The Movie Critic".
Tarantino, in the same podcast interview, expressed his admiration for Fincher and praised his seriousness towards his work[3]. He also revealed that his last directing project would not be "The Movie Critic", but he has yet to disclose what his final film will look like.
[1] - The Hollywood Reporter [2] - Variety [3] - The Church of Tarantino Podcast [4] - Deadline
"I'm not going to tell you what I'm gonna do," Quentin Tarantino said in a podcast interview, echoing his distinctive style of keeping his projects under wraps, reminiscent of the entertainment world of movies-and-tv. Despite initial plans for a spiritual sequel to his own "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," titled "The Movie Critic," Tarantino decided to step away from directing the film, passing the reins to David Fincher, a renowned director in the movies-and-tv industry.
