Brad Pitt will re-team with writer/director Quentin Tarantino on Tarantino’s upcoming (and rumored to be final) film “The Movie Critic,” according to media reports.
Pitt has teamed with Tarantino before, having starred in both 2009’s “Inglourious Basterds” and 2019’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” with the latter winning Pitt an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of violent stuntman Cliff Booth. Pitt also co-starred in Tony Scott’s “True Romance” back in 1993, which was famously adapted from one of Tarantino’s early scripts. (Pitt memorably played Floyd, Michael Rapaport’s constantly stoned roommate.)
While it’s unclear who Pitt is playing, Tarantino has referred to the movie as being “epilogue-y,” which clearly has to do with it being the final film of his career but also one has to wonder if it be an epilogue for “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” itself? “The Movie Critic” is set in 1977, less than ten years after the events of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” when Pitt’s Cliff Booth thwarted an attack on actor Rick Dalton (Leonard DiCaprio) by Charles Manson’s (Damon Herriman) “family.”
It’s unclear how far along the deal for Pitt is or when the actor could fit it into his busy schedule. This week he went back to work on Joseph Kosinski’s Formula One movie for Apple, which is said to be filming for much of the year. That would put “The Movie Critic” after it for release sometime in 2025? Historically, Tarantino has loved premiering his films at the Cannes Film Festival, where he won the Palme d’Or back in 1994 for his breakout feature “Pulp Fiction.” He also screened “Inglourious Basterds,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and his director’s cut of “Death Proof” there.
Also unclear is who will be releasing the movie. Since the dissolution of the Weinstein Company, Tarantino has been a free agent and made “Once Upon a Time with Hollywood” with Sony after being courted by every major Hollywood studio besides Disney. Is Sony the frontrunner for “The Movie Critic?” Only time will tell.
Tarantino did not respond to requests for comment.
Deadline originally reported the story.
