Quentin Tarantino's The Movie Critic: Cancelation & Everything We Know

Summary Quentin Tarantino's next project, The Movie Critic, was confirmed to be his last film as a director, following his plan to retire after directing 10 movies.

Tarantino scrapped The Movie Critic and will now reserve his final directing effort for something else.

Brad Pitt had been cast in The Movie Critic, but his role was unknown.

Quentin Tarantino was working on his final film, The Movie Critic, but the award-winning cinematic titan has now canceled the project. Tarantino famously plans to retire after directing 10 movies. Since he counts the two-part Kill Bill as one movie, he currently has nine films under his belt, making The Movie Critic his last. If Tarantino keeps his word about his retirement from filmmaking, his next will be the final movie of his career, making The Movie Critic news all the more sought after.

Quentin Tarantino movies have almost become a sub-genre, with slick crime thrillers like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, martial arts movie Kill Bill, slasher Death Proof, and war thriller Inglourious Basterds all feeling uniquely his. After westerns Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight, Tarantino left behind genre conventions and made a film about filmmaking itself — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The iconic writer-director was set to continue that theme with his final project, The Movie Critic.

2:10 Related How Many Films Quentin Tarantino Has Made (& Why He Counts It Wrong) Just how many movies has Quentin Tarantino actually made? Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is supposed to be his ninth film, but that doesn't add up.

Tarantino's The Movie Critic Latest News

The Movie Critic Is Scrapped

Tarantino plans to direct 10 films before retiring, and though the next project is unknown, it won't be The Movie Critic

Though news had finally begun to come out about Tarantino's final film, the latest update confirms that The Movie Critic has been scrapped. In a broadside that is sure to disappoint fans who have been following the project's development for years, Tarantino has pulled the plug and The Movie Critic joins a long list of canceled projects in the director's storied career. Tarantino plans to direct 10 films before retiring, and though the next project is unknown, it won't be The Movie Critic.

The Movie Critic Was Confirmed

Another Tarantino Epic Was Expected

The Movie Critic was confirmed to be Tarantino’s next film, and possibly his last. He’s completed the script and was already looking for studios to invest. Unfortunately, the acclaimed director completely changed his course in April 2024 when it was announced that The Movie Critic has been scrapped. No official reason has been given but the movie will not move forward despite being weeks away from shooting.

Quentin Tarantino has directed the following movies:

Movie Release Year Rotten Tomatoes Score Reservoir Dogs 1992 90% Pulp Fiction 1994 92% Jackie Brown 1997 88% Kill Bill vol. 1 & 2 2003 & 2004 85% & 84% Death Proof 2007 64% Inglourious Basterds 2008 89% Django Unchained 2012 87% The Hateful Eight 2015 75% Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2019 86%

The Movie Critic Cast

Brad Pitt Was Cast In An Undisclosed Role

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The only name attached to the cast of The Movie Critic was Brad Pitt, and though the A-lister added a lot of star power, little was known about his role and he wasn't likely playing the lead. There were rumors of Paul Walter Hauser being in talks for the lead role before the SAG-AFTRA strikes, but no news surfaced even after the conclusion of the strikes.

When it comes to supporting roles, Tarantino tends to work with a lot of the same actors. The Movie Critic would have been Tarantino’s last chance to work with frequent collaborators like Tim Roth, Christoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson. Intending to retire from filmmaking after The Movie Critic was finished, Tarantino was likely eager to include as many of his favorite collaborators as possible in the cast. Since The Movie Critic took place in the film industry in L.A., there would have been ample opportunities for actors to cameo as Hollywood legends.

The Movie Critic Story Details

A Lonely Movie Critic Was The Focus Of The Canceled Project

The Movie Critic story details were not known specifically, but Tarantino has spoken a lot about the central character in the story. Tarantino drew inspiration from a real movie critic he followed in the 1970s who wrote reviews in porno magazines. Tarantino suggested the character's reviews would be vulgar and funny while comparing them to the journal entries of Travis Bickle in Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. This suggests the central movie critic may be slightly unhinged, and opens up a lot of possibilities for the plot.

Another interesting reveal about The Movie Critic came from filmmaker Paul Schrader who suggested that Tarantino was remaking movies from the 70s for his new movie. Schrader revealed (via Indiewire) that Tarantino called him and asked "Can I redo the ending of Rolling Thunder?" Rolling Thunder is a revenge movie Schrader wrote in 1977 which Tarantino often spoke highly of. The idea that Tarantino is remaking scenes from these movies and changing them is very fun and could be similar to what he did with his imagined episode of Lancer in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It is also another example of Tarantino having fun playing loose with history.