A very interesting Tarantino update from THR’s Borys Kit.
It turns out that, initially, Tarantino’s movie was going to be called “The Movie Critic,” but, sometime late last year, he secretly scrapped that film and changed course. He started writing a different film, one connected to “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood,” which would have had Brad Pitt reprising his role as Cliff Booth. Kit’s sources were unclear if it was going to be a prequel or sequel to ‘Hollywood’.
However, this week, Tarantino had ANOTHER change of heart, deciding to put the Booth script on the shelf. Pitt himself only found out a few hours before the news surfaced online. Now, it is said that Tarantino is working on a brand new script.
Jeff Sneider also spoke to multiple insiders on Wednesday night, with one telling him that Tarantino didn’t think the scripts were strong enough to serve as his swan song. “He’s being super picky and gun-shy about what this next movie is,” said one source.
Another suggested that Tarantino was suffering from “genius syndrome, where you’re stuck in your own head.” That is something that many are starting to suspect.
It’s quite clear that Tarantino is putting too much pressure on himself to end his career on a “perfect” filmography. He doesn’t want to fail, which, in my opinion, is something that all artists should go through, at least once in their careers. Without failure, you don’t learn and better yourself as an artist, but Tarantino is being very militant about his self-imposed 10-film limit.
His theory is that as a filmmaker ages, the quality of work worsens. Forget about the “10 film” number. Tarantino just turned 61. Kurosawa released “Ran” when he was 75. Hitchcock gave us “Vertigo” at 60. Hawks delivered “Rio Bravo” at 63. Scorsese was 71 when “The Wolf of Wall Street” came out. Ford was 62 when his masterpiece, “The Searchers,” was unveiled.
I should also note that, technically, Tarantino has already directed 10 films. He’s just decided to count “Kill Bill: Volume One” and “Kill Bill: Volume Two” as a single movie.
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.