While I by no means consider myself to be a massive fan of Quentin Tarantino’s movies, I will admit that 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my favorite entry in his filmography since Pulp Fiction, which I enjoy immensely. That former movie saw Brad Pitt re-teaming with Tarantino following their time together on Inglorious Basterds, and now we can apparently look forward to one more collaboration between them. That’s because Pitt has reportedly signed on for The Movie Critic, Tarantino’s final movie, and now my interest in this flick has skyrocketed.
This casting news comes to us from Deadline, which reports that while it’s unclear at the moment if Pitt will play The Movie Critic’s title character, that’s looking like a strong possibility right now. Considering that the actor won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his turn as stuntman Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, one can’t fault him for wanting to work with Tarantino again. Pitt’s more recent film appearances have included Ad Astra, The Lost City, Bullet Train and Babylon.
Quentin Tarantino has long said he plans to retire from filmmaking after his 10th movie, so unless he has a change of heart in the coming years, The Movie Critic will be the last we see from him on the directorial front. Tarantino revealed the movie’s title in May 2023, along with shared that it takes place in 1977. A few weeks later, he said that The Movie Critic is based off a real-life “second-string critic” who “used to write movie reviews for a porno rag” that were “a cross between early Howard Stern and what Travis Bickle might be if he were a film critic.” Deadline has heard that Tarantino has done “quite a bit of rewriting” since dropping that information.
Although Brad Pitt is the first actor to sign on for The Movie Critic, he’s not the first actor to be mentioned in association with it. Last August, it was rumored that Quentin Tarantino wants Bruce Willis for a “small role” in the movie, this despite the fact that the Pulp Fiction lead has retired from performing due to having frontotemporal dementia. If something can’t be arranged with Willis, Tarantino allegedly wants to “work a brief clip” of the actor from one of his previous movies. Then in September, fellow Pulp Fiction alum John Travolta was also reportedly being eyed for a role in The Movie Critic.
Whoever ends up joining Brad Pitt on The Movie Critic’s cast, I’m just psyched that he and Quentin Tarantino will have one last opportunity to work together before the latter hangs up his directing hat. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was wonderfully put together, so my fingers are crossed this next feature boasts the same level of quality. Speaking of the 2019 movie, it was distributed by Sony Pictures, and it’s looking like The Movie Critic will also end up being housed there.
While The Movie Critic doesn’t have a specific release date yet, it’s supposedly being eyed for a 2025 drop. Keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more updates on its progress, and look through our 2024 movies schedule to learn what cinematic entertainment awaits in the coming months.
