Quentin Tarantino May Be Retiring After Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood

Though we’ve known Quentin Tarantino’s days as a film writer-director were numbered, doomsday may be coming sooner than we thought.

In a recent interview with GQ, the Academy Award-winning auteur behind Pulp Fiction brought the terrifying idea to light that if his next film, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, performs well, he may just seal the deal with 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 give to movies.”

“Well,” he continued, “if it’s really well received, maybe I won’t go to 10. Maybe I’ll stop right now! Maybe I’ll stop while I’m ahead. We’ll see.”

I guess we’ll have to see. But if the early reactions are any indication, Once Upon A Time may be the last time Hollywood sees QT’s impeccable creativity. As of right now, the film’s earned a staggering 9.6/10 on IMDb, an 88 on Metacritic, and a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. And all of that’s without mentioning the 6-minute standing ovation it received following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

While there’s at least a huge part of me that hopes this is a joke and just a way to get filmgoers into their seats come July 26th, an actor close to the director doesn’t seem to think so. And that’d be Brad Pitt, who’s not only a part of Once Upon a Time, but also starred in Tarantino’s World War II fantasy Inglorious Basterds.

“No, I don’t think he’s bluffing at all. I think he’s dead serious. And I kind of openly lament that to him, but he understands the math of when he feels like directors start falling off their game. But he has other plans and we’re not going to have to say goodbye for a long time.”

Pitt’s right. At least Tarantino won’t be going away for good. We know he’s at least got his sights set on the development of an R-rated Star Trek movie. But in a time where original critical and commercial smash hits are few and far between, it’ll be a sad day when Quentin Tarantino hangs up his hat.

But don’t get too sad QT fans (talking to myself here), we’ve only got a little bit more than a month before Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood hits theaters, and from the looks of it, it’s shaping up to be quite the important motion picture.