Quentin Tarantino’s Final Film Just Got A Surprise Update, And Fans Are Already Buzzing

Quentin Tarantino has spent years teasing the idea of a tenth and supposedly final film, and the wait has only grown more agonizing since his last effort behind the camera. It has now been seven years since the release of his last feature, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’, leaving fans to speculate endlessly about what could possibly close out his celebrated career.

That anticipation reached a boiling point after Tarantino’s previous plan fell apart entirely. He had begun moving ahead on a period piece called ‘The Movie Critic,’ with pre-production starting in January 2024 and Brad Pitt reportedly being eyed for a role, only for Tarantino to scrap the project altogether. That left the door wide open for confusion about what his true final chapter would look like.

Now, longtime collaborator Robert Richardson has stepped in to shed some light on the mystery. According to a post from ScreenRant, Richardson revealed that Tarantino’s next film is going to be something fresh, with the plan being to film sometime next year. The cinematographer, who cited Screen Daily as the original source, made clear that specifics are still being kept tightly under wraps.

Richardson explained that he and Tarantino have not actually discussed what the next film will be, though Tarantino has maintained that his next feature will be his last as director. Still, Richardson offered a small preview, saying the next chapter will be a very fresh Quentin in comments made to Screen Daily.

Richardson noted that nobody, including himself, actually knows what Tarantino’s tenth and supposedly final film will be, adding that the director is currently focused on other creative pursuits before returning to feature filmmaking. Work will not begin in earnest until after Tarantino finishes his play, ‘The Popinjay Cavalier,’ which is scheduled to open in London’s West End in early 2027.

That timeline lines up with what Richardson shared regarding a production window. Richardson indicated that Tarantino is planning to begin filming his next movie sometime in 2028, with pre-production expected to kick off during the summer of 2027. It is a long runway, but for fans who have waited years already, any concrete timeframe feels like meaningful progress.

Richardson’s history with Tarantino gives his comments extra weight, since he has shot several of the director’s most acclaimed works. The pair have collaborated on five films together, counting both ‘Kill Bill’ volumes as a single entry, earning three Oscar nominations for Best Cinematography on ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ ‘Django Unchained,’ and ‘The Hateful Eight’. That track record makes his read on Tarantino’s next creative direction one worth paying attention to.

Interestingly, Richardson also revealed just how close he came to shooting the now abandoned ‘The Movie Critic.’ He had already been committed to Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic ‘Michael’ when Tarantino personally called and asked if he could be released to work on what was intended to be his final film. That project’s collapse, along with the later scrapping of a planned ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ follow-up, has made Tarantino’s true finale one of cinema’s most closely watched mysteries.

With a possible 2027 pre-production start and 2028 shoot now on the table, the countdown to Tarantino’s final bow finally feels real. What kind of story do you think would make the perfect send off for Tarantino’s legendary career?