With Quentin Tarantino at the Cannes Film Festival for a special screening of John Flynn‘s 1977 flick “Rolling Thunder,” Deadline sat the director down for an interview to talk about his career, his upcoming final film “The Movie Critic,” and more. And in the chat, QT confirmed that “The Movie Critic” will indeed be the “last thing” he does as a feature film. “I am ending the filmography,” said the director, but he also clarified that the option of a TV show, play, or short film is still open. But “The Movie Critic” will be it when it comes to movies.
So what’s Tarantino’s logic behind the decision? “It’s just time. It’s just time to go out,” explained QT. “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.”
And for Tarantino, those diminishing returns stem from movies no longer having the same event-like quality to their cinematic releases. “Well, I’ve always thought that,” Tarantino said about films needing a theatrical release to feel vital. “And they eventually get to television. I saw a lot of them that way. I’m probably going to be doing [“The Movie Critic”] with Sony because they’re the last game in town that is just absolutely, utterly, committed to the theatrical experience. It’s not about feeding their streaming network. They are committed to theatrical experience. They judge success by asses on seats. And they judge success by the movies entering the zeitgeist, not just making a big expensive movie and then putting it on your streaming platform. No one even knows it’s there.”
Tarantino then cited Ryan Reynold‘s recent spate of films on Netflix as an example of how streaming-only movie releases negatively influences film culture. ““I mean, and I’m not picking on anybody, but apparently for Netflix, Ryan Reynolds has made $50 million on this movie and $50 million on that movie and $50 million on the next movie for them. I don’t know what any of those movies are. I’ve never seen them. Have you?” QT’s interview nods to keep QT going, who continues, “I haven’t ever talked to Ryan Reynolds’ agent, but his agent is like, ‘Well, it cost $50 million.’ Well, good for him that he’s making so much money. But those movies don’t exist in the zeitgeist. It’s almost like they don’t even exist.”
So if Tarantino sees streaming as a current ailment of movie culture, why does he want possibly make a TV show someday. “Well, I don’t think I’m that negative about [streaming],” QT added, “I think it had been going that way and the pandemic hurried everything along.” But Tarantino doesn’t equate movies released only on streaming channels and TV shows as the same thing. “But I’ve got no ax to grind against television, per se, all right?” Tarantino continued. “I’ve got no axe to grind against television, but everyone watches all these shows, and they’re all just soap operas. It can be very entertaining while you’re watching it, but at the end of the day, it’s all a soap opera. You learn about a bunch of characters, kind of know all their backstories, and then you watch them fight or hook up or this or that and the other. And it’s just a soap opera.”
In Tarantino’s eyes, it’s all about engagement, and movie released solely on streaming don’t engage audiences the same way serial TV or theatrical releases do. “It’s very engaging while you’re watching it,” QT said about TV series in general. “But when it’s over with, three weeks after I watch the last episode, I usually don’t have the same feelings that I have after I watch a good movie. Yet, when I’m watching it, it’s compelling.”
So, QT fans: don’t rule out Tarantino making a limited series of some sort after he wraps “The Movie Critic” and brings his filmmaking career to an end. But at the same time, don’t expect him to renege his “10 feature films and that’s it” plan. Instead, expect Tarantino to write more film criticism like last year’s “Cinema Speculation.” Meanwhile, “The Movie Critic” enters “pre pre-production” in late June.