'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Might Be Quentin Tarantino's Last Movie, Unless He Changes His Mind

Quentin Tarantino is retiring. Unless he isn't. The filmmaker has teased his exit from movies in the past, stating that he would probably hang it up after 10 movies. Now, however, Tarantino is hinting that he might stop even earlier, and call it quits after his upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – especially if the flick is well received.

Back in 2012, Quentin Tarantino revealed that he would retire after making 10 movies. In 2014, he reiterated that claim, stating: "I don't believe you should stay on stage until people are begging you to get off. I like the idea of leaving them wanting a bit more. I do think directing is a young man's game and I like the idea of an umbilical cord connection from my first to my last movie."

Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which opens this month, is being billed as the filmmaker's 9th movie – even though it's technically the 10th, since Kill Bill was split in two and should therefore count as two movies. But if you do want to consider Once Upon a Time... the 9th Tarantino film, that would mean he only has one movie left in him – if he's serious about retiring.

What would that 10th and final film be? Well, it seemed as if it might be a Star Trek movie. The filmmaker pitched an idea to Paramount, and confirmed in an interview to me that the script was written and he was definitely considering doing it. But that might not happen after all – because the director now says he might be retiring earlier than expected.

"I think when it comes to theatrical movies, I've come to the end of the road," Tarantino said in a new interview. "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." He added: "If [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is] 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."

To me this sounds like Tarantino is joking around a bit, but you never know – he might be serious. In the same interview, Brad Pitt, who stars in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, said that he doesn't think Tarantino is not "bluffing at all" and that "he's dead serious." However, Pitt added: "But he has other plans and we're not going to have to say goodbye for a long time."

So is this the end of Quentin Tarantino: Film Director? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say no. Even if the director is indeed "dead serious" about this right now, that's not to say he won't change his mind further down the road. At the same time, I'd love to read a book by Tarantino. In fact, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood original started out as a novel, which the director then turned into a film instead.

It's worth noting that Tarantino specified theatrical movies in his statement. The filmmaker's recent re-edit of The Hateful Eight for Netflix confirms he has no qualms with the streaming landscape. Maybe he'll call it quits with traditional releases, and jump into the streaming world?

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which may or may not be Quentin Tarantino's last movie, opens July 26, 2019.