The undisputed Hollywood master of violence and black humour, Quentin Tarantino has already spoke in the past about his decision to stop directing once he finishes his tenth movie. And during this year’s Golden Globes, he told a room full of press that he pretty much hasn’t budged an inch on that stance: he still wants to go out on top.
A Twitter post by Variety confirms his plan as they recently uploaded his post-acceptance speech to their account, which you can see below:
Quentin Tarantino explains why, yes, he still plans to stop directing after 10 films https://t.co/vybrFVI4kq #GoldenGlobes pic.twitter.com/vgHa642Efq
— Variety (@Variety) January 6, 2020
After accepting the award for Best Screenplay for Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood, he told reporters that he hopes to leave people wanting more and that a 10-film legacy followed by immediately quitting the directing spotlight would be an interesting “mic drop” moment.
The whole idea is to leave them wanting more a little bit. That’s always the old Vaudevillian’s way of going out…I do like the idea of a 10-film filmography, especially a 10-film filmography where I’ve spent the last 30 years giving everything in the world that I have to it, and then dropping the mic and saying, ‘Okay, that’s it.’ And there’s other things I can do. I can write plays, I can direct plays, I can do a TV show, I can do a lot of different things, but the filmography will stand.
So, it seems as though Tarantino may want to leave films behind once he’s done, but will continue to work behind the camera on TV shows whilst also writing. Many will miss his sharply-written and directed pulp movies, to be sure, with their homages to pop culture and cinema, but we’ll no doubt see evidence of his work in other places.
Now, it could be argued that he’s already done ten movies, which would mean he’s due to drop out any moment. However, if you count Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 as just one film (despite them being completely different in style), there may be one more left in his brain.
In any case, when he does finally decide to call it a day, he’ll leave behind a celebrated body of work which inspires movie lovers to this day. From Reservoir Dogs to Pulp Fiction right up to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, they represent an impressive oeuvre from one of cinema’s most talked about directors and whenever Quentin Tarantino decides to call it quits, he’ll certainly be missed.