Quentin Tarantino’s ‘The Movie Critic’ is no longer

Just mere months ago, every news publication was ablaze with the news that Brad Pitt would be starring in Tarantino’s final film, The Movie Critic. A quasi-follow up to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, The Movie Critic was set to be one of the films of 2025. But alas, yesterday it was announced that the film is no longer. Though Tarantino had purportedly written the script, sources close to the director claimed he “simply had a change of heart”. “He changed his mind and is going back to the drawing board to figure out what that final movie will be,” stated the Deadline article that broke the news.

Though it’s not entirely relevant now, The Movie Critic was said to follow a movie critic (one that wrote for a porno mag, anyway) back in 1977. Star Brad Pitt was allegedly reprising his role as Once Upon a Time‘s Cliff Booth.

While some online have simply brushed off Tarantino abandoning The Movie Critic, for others the whole affair is symptomatic of the director’s obsession with his “legacy”: namely, why is it that he can only make ten films? “he’s overthinking it because of this dumb ten-movie limit. handcuffed to anxiety over his own legacy. very lame imo” said one user on X. It was, of course, in 2016 that the man behind Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill confirmed that he would be quitting after another two films — that was around the release of The Hateful Eight. “Hopefully, the way I define success when I finish my career is that I’m considered one of the greatest film-makers that ever lived,” he said at a conference.

All things said, there’s still a chance that The Movie Critic might come into fruition, this whole affair sounding very similar to what happened with The Hateful Eight. It was in 2014 that the script for The Hateful Eight leaked, causing the director to shelve the project. Eventually, however, he returned to the film after getting rave reviews following a charity reading of the script. In 2015 it hit cinemas. Tarantino also has a boatload of other unrealised projects: there was, at one point, meant to be a remake of the 1973 Westworld film, a Grindhouse sequel, and an untitled Iron Man project, amongst many, many more.

All in all, it’s likely a very sad day for the most annoying man you know.