Quentin Tarantino’s supposedly canceled final film,The Movie Critic, has sparked endless speculation from fans and the media about what would have happened in the movie. The 10th and final project in Tarantino’s long-planned filmographywas “confirmed” to be canceledearlier this year, though this may not even be true. It was officially revealed thatThe Movie Criticwould focus on a critic working for a fictional porn magazine in the 1970s. However,the internet took the movie’s core concept and, according to the director, began to spin wild tales about casting and the movie’s meta-levels of storytelling.
During a recent appearance onBill Maher’s Club Random podcast,Tarantino addressed the rumors surroundingThe Movie Critic. The director blamed media outlets for popularizing rumors about the movie’s cancelation and content. Because the director has kept the project shrouded in mystery, he believes that one outlet will “confirm” a rumor about the project, and the rest of the internet will run with the story. Most interestingly, Tarantino neither confirmed nor denied whetherThe Movie Critichas actually been shelved. He explained:
““If you’re Joe Schlomoka, and you’re some sort of transient celebrity reporter of some kind, if you hear ‘Quentin is going to make a Star Trek movie,’ or ‘Quentin is going to do a movie called The Movie Critic’ or Quentin is going to do any f*cking thing, it’s a little bit like when that guy wrote that Howard Hughes biography that ended up being a hoax… The thing is, they can say anything: ‘Oh Quentin is going to cast Tom Cruise – it’s for sure! Quentin is going to cast Tom Cruise as the movie critic!’
The thing that’s kind of funny about The Movie Critic was they started saying I was going to cast that actor, Paul Walter Hauser… But what’s funny about it is I think they just think he looks like a critic, so that’s why they picked [him]. But my point being, though, is they write it in, you know, ‘Showbiz Daily’ or something, and then that gets picked up in 140 [other] pieces.”
Quentin Tarantino Refuses to Confirm The Movie Critic Rumors
While Quentin Tarantino criticizes the snowball effect of modern journalism, he also refuses to dispute or correct the rumors circulating aboutThe Movie Critic. Even MovieWeb’s own archives are brimming with the speculation surrounding the project, and if you are interested in finding out what we think we know, we have previously compiledeverything about the mysterious movie. The director said he could easily come out and correct all the misinformation and rumors and reveal what is actually happening with the movie, but he refuses to. Tarantino explained:
“Because I’m not shutting that down – because I’m not all connected – then that’s just reported as if it’s true: and it is true for a couple of weeks, because no one knows anything better, because I’m not filling them in.”
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While Tarantino’s comments suggest a feeling of frustration towards the endless circulation of speculation surroundingThe Movie Critic, the director revealed that, secretly, there is part of him that enjoys watching the endless rumors appear. As well as promoting the movie at no cost to the director or studio, Tarantino joked that the level of media attention is a great way to fuel the ego of a Hollywood star. The director said:
“It’s not a bad thing! Actually, the egomaniac in me thinks that the idea that 142 articles can be printed about just speculation of what I’m going to do, I appreciate that a lot, and that means I’m in a good place. The egomaniac Elvis guy part of me goes ‘Yeah, right on!'”
