Quentin Tarantino has revealed he plans to open his first play in London’s West End and that it may be adapted into his final film.
Tarantino, the American writer and director behind Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, said this week that he was planning to move to England with his family early next year.
He told The Church of Tarantino podcast that he anticipated the play, which is as yet untitled but which may be a comedy, would take up to two years of his life unless “it is a flop”.
Tarantino’s 1994 film Pulp Fiction, starring Uma Thurman and John Travolta
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Tarantino, who has directed nine films and repeatedly said he only plans to make ten, kept open the option of the unnamed play becoming his final cinematic project.
His choice of London for his first play, which will undoubtedly become one of the hottest tickets of the year, is a coup for the West End but also reflects the high costs of taking productions to Broadway.
Andrew Lloyd Webber recently cast doubt on taking his recent revival of Evita starring Rachel Zegler to New York due to the rising costs involved.
Lloyd Webber said producers were “not really able to get their money back … it’s a brave person who brings something to Broadway now”.
“The play is all written, it is absolutely the next thing that I’m going to,” Tarantino told the podcast. “And we will start the ball rolling on it in January.”
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He said the “idea right now is to open it in the West End”. He added: “It’s probably going to take up a year-and-a-half, two years of my life, because if it is a success, then I gotta do the tour version.
“I’m preparing for it to be a success. If it is a flop, then I will be done very quickly.”
Tarantino, who is thought to have been mainly living in Israel with his wife, the singer Daniella Pick and their two young children, added: “I’m having a great time with my kids [and will] hang out with my family for the rest of the year.
“I will then more than likely move to England, bring my family with me and start working on the play.”
Tarantino and Pick are thought to be living in Israel with their two children
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Tarantino, 62, had previously said he was thinking about writing a play — without revealing he wanted to open it in London — and that he hoped “it would be funny stuff”.
He told an American talk show that if it were “a popular play, then I’ll probably make a movie”.
The director, who rose to fame with his debut feature film Reservoir Dogs in 1992, is now regarded as one of the most influential of his generation. His ninth film was the 2019 production Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
Tarantino’s debut hit film, Reservoir Dogs, was the launch pad for his successful career
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He told the podcast he had changed his mind about making his tenth film, called The Movie Critic, for which he has written a script.
The director added that the planned film would have been a “spiritual sequel” to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but he later changed his mind because it would have been using the “same skill set” as his ninth film.
Tarantino handed the directing reins for a forthcoming Netflix film The Adventures of Cliff Booth (written by Tarantino), which is based on Pitt’s character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, to his fellow director, David Fincher.
Brad Pitt will play the role of the stuntman in The Adventures of Cliff Booth
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Tarantino also weighed in on the never-ending debate over his best film, nominating his 2009 Second World War drama Inglourious Basterds.
“I think Kill Bill is the movie I was born to make, I think Inglourious Basterds is my masterpiece, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my favourite,” Tarantino told the podcast.
He added that he thought Inglourious Basterds, which also starred Pitt, was his best script, followed by The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.