Quentin Tarantino Warns He May Retire If You Enjoy Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

Tarantino teases that he may call it a day and go out on a high.

by Andrew Pollard
quentin tarantino
Sony

Over the past several years, Quentin Tarantino has made no secret of his plan to retire after directing his tenth movie. With this month’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to be Tarantino’s ninth time directing – only because QT classes Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 as one elongated movie – the filmmaker has teased that he may call time on his career a little sooner than expected.

In a new interview with GQ Australia, Tarantino has revealed that, should Once Upon a Time in Hollywood do well, he may take an even earlier retirement than first planned

As the famed Reservoir Dogs helmer put it, “I think when it comes to theatrical movies, I’ve come to the end of the road. I see myself writing books and starting to write theatre, so I’ll still be creative. I just think I’ve given all I have to movies. If [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is] really well received, maybe I won’t go to ten. Maybe I’ll stop right now. Maybe I’ll stop while I’m ahead. We’ll see.”

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This isn't the first time Tarantino has talked about quitting while he’s ahead, with other interviews over the past five or six years seeing him state how he wanted to go out on top and to leave audiences wanting more.

Of course, on the flipside of this, it’s long been known that Quentin Tarantino is also in talks to put his own unique spin on Star Trek for Paramount Pictures. The script for that R-rated movie is already written and talks are at an advanced stage for Tarantino to officially sign on for the project.

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It’s probably best to take Quentin’s comments with a pinch of salt for now, even if Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star Brad Pitt backed up the legitimacy of Tarantino’s claims in the very same interview.

Whether Tarantino does indeed make another movie or not, first and foremost is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – in cinemas from July 26th.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.