Brad Pitt will purportedly reunite with Quentin Tarantino for what is presumed to be his final film, The Movie Critic, as reported by Deadline co-editor-in-chief Mike Fleming Jr.
Fleming Jr. suspects Pitt will play the title character, a departure from their previous two films together where the 60-year-old actor was used in a supporting or co-starring part. The last time Pitt starred in a Tarantino film, he received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the controversial Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.
Pitt also starred in 2009’s Inglourious Basterds and had a memorable cameo in 1993’s True Romance, one of Quentin’s earliest scripts, directed by Tony Scott.
Tarantino, also 60, revealed in an interview with Deadline last year that The Movie Critic is “based on a guy who really lived, but was never really famous, and he used to write movie reviews for a porno rag.” The filmmaker said his inspiration was a “very good critic” and described his reviews as “cynical as hell.”
“His reviews were a cross between early Howard Stern and what Travis Bickle [Robert DeNiro’s character in Taxi Driver] might be if he were a film critic,” he added.
Tarantino would not disclose the name of the actual journalist or publication, but shared that The Movie Critic is set in 1977 and the fictional magazine will be called Popstar Pages.
While promoting The Hateful Eight in 2014, QT remained committed to his goal of retiring after directing 10 movies, as reported by Deadline. “I like that I will leave a 10-film filmography, and so I’ve got two more to go after this,” he said. “It’s not etched in stone, but that is the plan.”
Tarantino left the door open to the possibility of returning if he becomes profoundly interested in a certain project, but believes in the idea of “leaving them wanting more.”
Pitt also sparked speculation of an impending retirement after saying he’s “on my last leg” in a 2022 GQ cover story. He later clarified that he needed to “work on my phrasing,” and the remark meant being more selective by choosing roles that feel right.
