In an announcement that is sure to stun all movie-goers, Quentin Tarantino announced that he is doing two more films, then retiring from the business. He is officially throwing in the towel. In the announcement, Tarantino said that he will quit after his tenth film is complete. That unfortunately means that we will only have him for two more films.
Thursday, at the Adobe Max creativity conference in San Diego, Tarantino made the announcement in only a way that he could:
“Drop the mic. Boom. Tell everybody. ‘Match that sh*t.'”
At only 53 years of age, Tarantino will be saying his goodbyes, and riding off into the sunset. This news comes as a surprise, as his last two films (Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight) were a huge success. He has said that he was to retire before, but few took him seriously. Earlier in the year, Tarantino hinted at retiring, and the possibility of when that could take place:
“I’m planning on stopping at 10. So it’ll be two more. Even if at 75, if I have this other story to tell, it would still kind of work because that would make those 10. They would be there and that would be that. But the one he did when he was an old f***ing man, that geriatric one exists completely on its own in the old folks’ home and is never put in the same shelf next to the other 10. So it doesn’t contaminate the other 10.”
Tarantino also said earlier in the year that he was working on a “Bonnie and Clyde-esque” film set in Australia during the 1930’s.
During the conference, Tarantino was asked what his personal definition of success was, and he had this to say:
“Hopefully, the way I define success when I finish my career is that I’m considered one of the greatest filmmakers that ever lived, and going further, a great artist, not just filmmaker.”
He went on to open up about part of creative process, saying that he starts by finding the perfect song:
“So much of [the movie’s language] revolves around a sound or a song, before I’ve started, I’m seriously thinking about the music. I’m listening to a track and picturing everyone at the Cannes Palais just loving it.”
When he does decide to hang up his camera, Hollywood will lose a great director. One whose approach to dialog and storytelling has rarely been matched. Tarantino was a great among greats, and chiseled out his own little corner of success in Hollywood. It will be sad to see him go. He gave us so many great films. He will be missed.
