Paul Walter Hauser Says Casting In Tarantino’s ‘The Movie Critic’ Was Fake: “Someone Started An Internet Rumor”

At this point, Quentin Tarantino’s nixed final film “The Movie Critic” is old news: just another lost project for a director whose mythos is chockfull of movies he almost made. But, nearly a year after Tarantino scrapped his swan song, Paul Walter Hauser, who was once rumored and reported to be the lead character, revealed he never once even discussed the film with Tarantino and all of it was all just a big fake.

READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino Is In “No Hurry” Make His Final Film & Is Currently Working On A Play

Hauser set the record straight about his apparent casting on a new episode of the comedy interview series “The Perfect Parfait,” hosted by Hunter Cope. “Somebody started a rumor on the internet that I was starring in the last Tarantino film, “The Movie Critic,’” said the actor. “And we talked to WME and got in their ear because they rep Quentin, and they were like, ‘He’s not even done writing it. He’s in another country, he’s in Amsterdam or Jerusalem or something, writing the script. And then people were like, ‘So what happened with you and Quentin?’ and I’m like, ‘literally nothing.’ There was no conversation whatsoever.”

Tarantino confirmed Hauser’s alleged casting was a rumor on Bill Maher’s “Club Random” podcast last summer. “They can say anything. ‘Quentin is going to cast Tom Cruise, it’s for sure,’” the director said about various casting rumors. “The thing that was kind of funny about “The Movie Critic” that I was going to cast Paul Walter Hauser… they just think he looks like a critic, so that’s why they picked him [laughs].”

“They write it in Showbiz Daily or whatever, and that gets picked up in 140 pieces, “continued QT. “Because I’m not shutting it down, because I’m not all connected [on social media], that is reported as true, and it’s ‘true’ for a couple of weeks because no one knows anything better, and I am not filling them in.”

To be fair to Hauser, he was hardly the only actor rumored to be part of “The Movie Critic.” In the 12-15 months, it felt like a sure thing. Cruise was also supposedly in talks to star in the film, with outlets reporting that John Travolta, Jamie Foxx, and Margot Robbie had also met with Tarantino to discuss potential parts. But QT never confirmed that they could potentially be cast; actors such as Olivia Wilde or David Krumholtz. In fact, the only rumor confirmed to be true about “The Movie Critic” ended up being that Brad Pitt would return as his “Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood” character Cliff Booth on the project, which would’ve been really cool, to be honest.

However, casting rumors swirl around all of Tarantino’s projects, and actors close to him are used to the tall tales. “Death Proof” and “The Hateful Eight” star Kurt Russell weighed in on rumors he’d be a part of “The Movie Critic” in December 2023, stating, “I have no idea . I never know with Quentin. He just calls up or someone calls up and says, ‘let’s go to work,’ and I love working with him.” And Samuel J. Jackson flat-out refused to discuss his potential involvement in a July 2023 interview. So rumors like the one Hauser had to deal with are standard for Tarantino films; they’re not worth taking seriously because someone on the internet likely made them up to generate hype and get a few more clicks.

But with “The Movie Critic” now dead, what will Tarantino work on next? That’s a bit of a mystery at this point. The director recently said he’s working on a play but always has several irons in the fire. And he’s also confirmed that he’ll write a follow-up to “Cinema Speculation,” his book of film criticism, but there’s no news on that front either. So as per usual, Tarantino’s future carries a certain mystique, and with that comes a lot of fake news, like the Paul Walter Hauser casting. What will QT fanboys think of next?

Check out the episode “The Perfect Parfait” with Paul Walter Hauser below.