Quentin Tarantino thinks Once Upon A Time…In Hollywood would be a good movie to end his career on

Before Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino hadn’t made a movie worthy of a dorm room wall for a long time. Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight just didn’t stack up against the movies that turned the foot fetishist into one of film’s top modern auteurs, like Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, and the Kill Bill movies. And during a recent podcast appearance, Tarantino suggested that he could be satisfied with Once Upon A Time… being the last movie he ever makes.

On an episode of Pure Cinema Podcast dedicated to final films, the famed director explained, “Most directors have horrible last movies. 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.” That’s the last thing Tarantino wants for his own career. “Most directors’ last films are fucking lousy. Maybe I should not make another movie because I could be really happy with dropping the mic on Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood,” he said.

If he does decide to end his filmmaking career with Once Upon A Time…, he’d at least be calling it quits on an extremely high note. The film received 10 Academy Award nominations, winning Best Production Design and Brad Pitt going home with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This isn’t the first time Tarantino’s talked about retirement, so he might actually be serious. In a 2019 interview with GQ Australia promoting Once Upon A Time…, he said, “I think when it comes to theatrical movies, I’ve come to the end of the road. I see myself writing film 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.” So, while he’d previously toyed with the idea of making another movie, it sounds like he’s inclined to just celebrate the glory of One Upon A Time…’s accolades and end at that. Now all we need is that 20-hour cut Margot Robbie talked about.