Quentin Tarantino is a staunch supporter of the theatrical experience, and has owned the New Beverly Cinema since 2007, while he’s also one of a dwindling number of filmmakers who shoot their movies exclusively on film as opposed to digital, but he’s not entirely against the idea of streaming services.
He definitely was at one stage, admitting that he prefers to have a physical copy of something he’s going to watch, to the extent that when rental chain Video Archives went bust, he bought the company’s entire inventory that amounted to over 8000 VHS tapes and DVDs. However, his stance appears to have softened after he refitted The Hateful Eight as a four-episode miniseries that was added to Netflix last year, and he’s since confirmed that a four-hour cut of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is in the works for the platform.
As it stands, the regular 161-minute theatrical version is playing well on the streamer, having been hanging around the Top 20 most-watched list for weeks now. Tarantino’s love letter to 1969 Los Angeles starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt was a major critical and commercial hit, earning almost $375 million at the box office before going on to land ten Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay, which saw Pitt go home with the Best Supporting Actor trophy.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood might not be as fast-paced and energetic as some of the director’s previous efforts, at least not until the third act anyway, but it nonetheless continued his phenomenal track record of success that’s seen him deliver a steady stream of modern greats that’ve firmly established him as one of the industry’s premiere auteurs for almost 30 years.
