Quentin Tarantino on David Fincher Directing ‘Once Upon a Time’ Follow-Up

Quentin Tarantino is explaining why he passed on directing Netflix’s upcoming Once Upon a Time in Hollywood follow-up.

In April, it was announced that Brad Pitt would officially reprise his role of Cliff Booth from the director’s 2019 film. However, to much surprise, David Fincher is attached to direct the project for Netflix, not Tarantino. 

The two-time Oscar winner explained on The Church of Tarantino podcast that he partly didn’t want to helm the movie because he didn’t want his 10th and final film to be a sequel.

“I love this script, but I’m still walking down the same ground I’ve already walked. It just kind of unenthused me,” he said. “This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory.”

Tarantino went on to explain why Fincher was the right director for the job, singing him a good amount of praise. “I think me and David Fincher are the two best directors. So the idea that David Fincher actually wants to adapt my work, to me, shows a level of seriousness towards my work that I think needs to be taken into account,” he explained. 

He notably still wrote the feature’s script and will serve as a producer, ensuring that he will “be around if they need me” as production ensues. 

“I’m moving back and forth between here and Israel, so I won’t be on the set every day and everything. But, yeah, I’ll be around if they need me to do something, you know, I will,” Tarantino added.

The Pulp Fiction director, too, explained why he scrapped his once-planned last film The Movie Critic. The project, at one point, was also in development as a TV show. 

“I really, really like it. There was a challenge that I gave to myself when I did it — can I take the most boring profession in the world and make it an interesting movie?” Tarantino said. “Who wants to see a TV show about a fucking movie critic? Who wants to see a movie called The Movie Critic? That was the test. If I can actually make a movie or a TV show about someone who actually watches movies interesting, that is an accomplishment.”

He further clarified that The Movie Critic would have been a “spiritual sequel” to Once Upon, and “there were no crossover characters, Cliff Booth was never in The Movie Critic,” despite much speculation.