Quentin Tarantino Criticizes Streaming Films: They 'Don't Exist in the Zeitgeist'
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The Oscar-winning filmmaker said he plans to retire after his next project 'The Movie Critic,' adding that he doesn't 'like working to diminishing returns'
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Quentin Tarantino wants to preserve the theatrical experience.
The 60-year-old movie director has previously said he plans to retire after his 10th film, but during a conversation at the Cannes Film Festival with Deadline, Tarantino reiterated that The Movie Critic is his last, as "it's just time to go out" — while streaming films are having their moment.
"I like the idea of going out on top," he said. "I like the idea of giving it my all for 30 years and then saying, ‘Okay, that’s enough.’ And I don’t like working to diminishing returns. And I mean, now is a good time because I mean, what even is a motion picture anyway anymore? Is it just something that they show on Apple? That would be diminishing returns."
Tarantino said he sees a lot of movies after they "eventually get to television," but films should be released in theaters first, using Ryan Reynolds' partnership with Netflix as an example.
"I’m not picking on anybody, but apparently for Netflix, Ryan Reynolds has made $50 million on this movie and $50 million on that movie," the Django Unchained director said. "I don’t know what any of those movies are. I’ve never seen them. Have you?”
"Well, good for him that he’s making so much money. But those movies don’t exist in the zeitgeist. It’s almost like they don’t even exist," he added.
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The script for The Movie Critic was ready in March, and Tarantino is set to begin directing in the fall. Details surrounding the upcoming film's premise and plot remain unclear, but according to The Hollywood Reporter, it is set in Los Angeles during the late 1970s and centers around a female lead.
"I’m probably going to be doing the movie with Sony because they’re the last game in town that is just absolutely, utterly, committed to the theatrical experience," Tarantino told Deadline. "It’s not about feeding their streaming network. They are committed to theatrical experience. They judge success by asses on seats. And they judge success by the movies entering the zeitgeist, not just making a big expensive movie and then putting it on your streaming platform. No one even knows it’s there.”
While he said he is done with filmmaking, Tarantino said that he is still open to creating.
“I could do a TV show. I didn’t say I’m going to go into the night darkly, all right? I could do a TV show. I could do a short film. I could do a play. All kinds of things I could do, but I’ll probably just be more of a writer," the Pulp Fiction director said.
"I am ending the filmography," he added.
The Once Upon a Time in Hollywood director and screenwriter appeared on Pure Cinema Podcast (via MovieMaker) in 2021 to discuss his imminent retirement and trying to avoid the possibility of ending his career on a bad film.
"Most directors have horrible last movies," Tarantino said. "Usually their worst movies are their last movies. That's the case for most of the Golden Age directors that ended up making their last movies in the late '60s and the '70s, then that ended up being the case for most of the New Hollywood directors who made their last movies in the late '80s and the '90s."
The Oscar winner referenced Arthur Penn's Bonnie & Clyde as an example of this pattern, saying, "I'm not a super huge fan of this director, but the fact that Arthur Penn's last movie is Penn & Teller Get Killed is a metaphor for how crummy most of the New Hollywood directors' last, last films were. So to actually end your career on a decent movie is rare. To end it with, like, a good movie is kind of phenomenal."
He continued, "I mean, most directors' last films are f---ing lousy. Maybe I should not make another movie because I could be really happy with dropping the mic."
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