Quentin Tarantino Contemplating Retirement After Tenth Film?

[Mitch Henessey]

Quentin Tarantino has made plans for film retirement after The Hateful Eight, saying that completing ten films and leaving people wanting more "sounds right", though he cautioned that "nothing is etched in stone".

During a Q&A for his new Western, Tarantino suggested he was not far from retiring, to which cast member Samuel L. Jackson questioned what he will do if not working in cinema.

"Writing plays and books, going gracefully into my tender years," Tarantino replied.

"I don’t believe you should stay onstage until people are begging you to get off," he added.

"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. I’m not trying to ridicule anyone who thinks differently, but I want to go out while I’m still hard.

"I like that I will leave a 10-film filmography, and so I’ve got two more to go after this. It’s not etched in stone, but that is the plan. If I get to the 10th, do a good job and don’t screw it up, well that sounds like a good way to end the old career.

"If, later on, I come across a good movie, I won’t not do it just because I said I wouldn’t. But 10 and done, leaving them wanting more — that sounds right."

Take Tarantino's retirement with a pinch of salt, this is the man who threw a sulk after The Hateful Eight's script was leaked saying he would no longer make the film, only to go back on the decision weeks later.

The director's first film of his "10" was 1992's Reservoir Dogs, his last cinemas outing being the slave drama Django Unchained which won two Academy Awards last year.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...o-retire-after-the-hateful-eight-9852796.html

At first, I thought about the possibility of Tarantino using the retirement talk to spark some buzz for The Hateful Eight, but Tarantino is one of the more popular and high profiled filmmakers in Hollywood. Love him or hate him, Tarantino's films have a consistent track record for critical and financial success, so there's no need to blow smoke with retirement talk.

Although, IF Tarantino plans to retire soon, there's a chance he's laying the bricks for one final grand tour. If the news turns out to be true, Tarantino's last set of films will have a stronger "must-see" feel to them, because everyone knows the clock is ticking.

Also, more films won't tarnish Tarantino's resume. I can understand Tarantino's less is more or quality over quantity thought process, but Tarantino has numerous awards, including two Oscars. At this point, he's done more than enough to solidify a memorable career, so if he makes the decision to go beyond ten films, I highly doubt he'll have to worry about people "begging" him to leave the stage.

For now, I'll take a let's wait and see approach to Tarantino's retirement talk. Honestly, there's no real need for him to walk away in the near future. Personally, I soured on Django Unchained a little bit after the first watch in theaters, but Tarantino is still capable of delivering a good or great film.


Any thoughts on this?

 

[Papa Pillman]

I have a bit of an outside-the-box guess at what Tarantino could be trying to accomplish here...

Perhaps he thinks that if he can convince The Academy that he is legitimately putting a limit on his films, and will not continue to direct into his grey years, that he can start a clock ticking toward pressuring them to give him the Best Director Oscar that he so clearly deserves.

I'm sure Quentin would never admit that the award was that important to him, but I find it hard to believe that any director of his stature doesn't covet receiving that recognition atleast once. And after watching Scorsese sweat it out until well into his 60s before getting the nod, Tarantino may want to put pressure on The Academy to feel a need to expedite the process. It would be a travesty to see Tarantino relegated to the same sad state of affairs that insults the legacy of Hitchcock and Kubrick, arguably history's two greatest filmmakers despite neither having won that Best Director Oscar.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

While it's true that Tarantino doesn't necessarily have to generate this sort of buzz, I wouldn't rule it out either. Anything that Tarantino does or says generates publicity, I'm sure he knows that as he's certainly aware of his own popularity. It could be little more than a means of hyping The Hateful Eight. If people think that it's genuinely gonna be his last one, moviegoers might flock to it just for that particular little novelty. Not trying to sound conceited or superior, but I do think it's true that a lot of people are sheep and going to the theater to see what could be called Tarantino's last movie could be one of those things where people wanna see it just so they could say they saw his last flick on the big screen.

He'll only be 52 when The Hateful Eight is released and that strikes me as too young to retire. He might drop out of things for the next few years before coming back to say that he was just suddenly bitten by the inspiration bug and wrote another film while swearing up & down that he genuinely was retired and intended to stay that way.

 

[Jane]

Tarantino strikes me as a director who has never been fishing for the next project so he can earn a buck, but rather one who lets the inspiration come naturally and works from there. Perhaps he feels like his creativity is starting to wane slightly. I'm looking forward to seeing this next film and whether he still has it... I personally found Django to be amongst his weaker efforts as the violence of the third act did not mesh with the story nearly as well as it does in Kill Bill or Inglorious Basterds. Maybe taking some time off will allow him to find a spark and he can make another movie in the same league as Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction.

 

[justinsayne]

It wasn't too long ago Kevin Smith said he was retiring from film-making & has since gone on to make Tusk (which was truly a bizarre fucking movie btw), & announced three more film projects in the pipeline, Yoga Hosers, & Moose Jaws, & finally Clerks 3, which just confirmed my belief that anytime an entertainer, whether it be film, music, or what have you, that you never really retire so much as just take longer breaks between projects. I think Quentin is thinking he'll retire but as soon as the inspiration hits him for a new film he won't be able to resist & we'll see him him back in that directing chair once again. Film-making is in his blood, & he knows nobody else is going to make the same type of movies that he's got ideas for in his head, so if he wants to see these movies get made he's gonna have to be the guy to make it.

 

[Dave]

Tarantino doesn't strike me a person who can just walk away from what he loves. His love for film and the arts is far too strong to just up leave. I mean, look at Chris Jericho. He always stated, on numerous occasions actually, that he would leave wrestling with people wanting more; not making it a big deal. But every time he has gone away, he has come back with something different that he wanted to try. And the same goes for Tarantino in my eyes. Like Jane said, inspiration just comes naturally to some directors and Tarantino is no different.

If he does choose to walk away from film, I'm counting the days until he returns with something he has been working on in his “retirement”. The arts are an addiction for some people and Tarantino has always used film to put some “out there” concepts into the mainstream. I don't see him staying away for long, even if I do believe that his talk of retirement is completely genuine.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

I have a bit of an outside-the-box guess at what Tarantino could be trying to accomplish here...

Perhaps he thinks that if he can convince The Academy that he is legitimately putting a limit on his films, and will not continue to direct into his grey years, that he can start a clock ticking toward pressuring them to give him the Best Director Oscar that he so clearly deserves.

That's a reasonable conspiracy theory, and it's something I never thought about before. But I hope Tarantino receives the award, because he deserves it, and because he truly directed one of the best, if not the best film for the year he receives the nomination. Whenever he decides to retire, I believe Tarantino will win one before its all said and done for his career, but I hope it's not a pity Oscar, because that'll undermine the moment and the win.

Recently, Tarantino was on the shit of luck list during his two nominations for the award. In 2010, he had his best shot with Inglorious Basterds, but Tarantino was too low on the totem pole for front-runners with Kathryn Bigelow (the winner for The Hurt Locker) and James Cameron (Avatar) in the same category. In 2013, Tarantino didn't receive a nomination (although, he won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay) for Django, because the Best Director category was stacked from top to bottom with Ang Lee, Spielberg, David O. Russell, and Michael Haneke.

Although, Justin brought up a good point with Kevin Smith, and entertainers retiring or announcing plans for retirement. Maybe Tarantino takes an extended break for a while, and he'll come back with a renewed passion for filmmaking.

 

[cristyloe]

I doubt he'd ever fully retire...he enjoys making gore movies a little too much.