In 2014, Quentin Tarantino proclaimed he’ll stop directing movies after his tenth feature. 2019’s “Once Upon A Time …In Hollywood” makes nine, so one film to go for QT before retirement. Now it looks like audiences will have to wait for that purportedly final film. IndieWire reports that Tarantino’s next project will be an eight-episode limited series, which puts off his cinema swan song for a little while longer.
Tarantino broke the news during his “Cinema Speculation” book tour in New York City, claiming the series will premiere in early 2023. That’s not too far away, but where will the series drop? QT was mum on that info, but maybe look to who he dropped the news to for a clue. Tarantino mentioned the series for the first time while in a conversation onstage with Elvis Mitchell in NYC. Mitchell’s latest documentary, “Am I Black Enough For You?” premiered on Netflix earlier this year. So, maybe Tarantino’s series will be on Netflix in the next few months?
It wouldn’t be that surprising for that to be the case. Tarantino partnered with Netflix for a serialized extended version of his 2015 film “The Hateful Eight.” So, there’s a history between QT and the streamer. And Tarantino is no stranger to working on TV either. Over the years, the director helmed episodes of “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series,” “CSI” and “E.R.,” while also playing a character in a two-part episode of “Alias.” He’s never directed an entire limited series for TV, so this project is a first.
Tarantino has touted his tenth film as his final one for almost a decade, but it’s still unclear what that project will be. In 2020, he mentioned he wanted to cap off his film career with a “mic drop” movie, with ideas including “Kill Bill 3,” a straight Spaghetti Western, or a horror film. He also shared that he once thought about adapting another Elmore Leonard novel, “Stick,” as he did for 1997’s “Jackie Brown,” but he wouldn’t consider that his “magnum opus.” QT apparently wants his final film to be a completely new work, so maybe that rules out “Kill Bill 3,” as well.
But Tarantino is particular about what counts as a movie and what doesn’t. On the “Cinema Speculation” book tour, he revealed that his final movie needs to be a cinematic experience to count as his tenth feature. That means anything for a streamer doesn’t really count as his final bow, including this upcoming limited series. So, Tarantino fans will have to wait for definitive news about the director’s cinematic grand finale. And that’s how QT, ever the tease, likes it.
Tarantino continues his book tour for “Cinema Speculation” through the end of the year. And even though the book completes his two-book deal with HarperCollins, expect him to write more books down the film. “I kind of feel this is the time for the third act [of my life] to just lean a little bit more into the literary, which would be good as a new father, as a new husband,” Tarantino said in a January 2020 interview. “I wouldn’t be grabbing my family and yanking them to Germany or Sri Lanka or wherever the next story takes place. I can be a little bit more of a homebody, and become a little bit more of a man of letters.” Critics love “Cinema Speculation,” so expect Tarantino to write a sequel of sorts in the coming years. Let’s hope he makes his final movie first, though.
Stay tuned for more news about Tarantino’s upcoming limited series very soon.