Quentin Tarantino Contemplates Not Making Another Movie: I'd Be 'Happy with Dropping the Mic'

Despite being one of Hollywood's most celebrated directors working today, Quentin Tarantino continues to stand firm in his decision to retire from filmmaking.

The Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood director and screenwriter, 58, appeared on Pure Cinema Podcast (via MovieMaker) this week to discuss his imminent retirement and trying to avoid the possibility of ending his career on a bad film.

"Most directors have horrible last movies," Tarantino said. "Usually their worst movies are their last movies. That's the case for most of the Golden Age directors that ended up making their last movies in the late '60s and the '70s, then that ended up being the case for most of the New Hollywood directors who made their last movies in the late '80s and the '90s."

The Django Unchained Oscar winner referenced Arthur Penn's Bonnie & Clyde as an example of this pattern, saying, "I'm not a super huge fan of this director, but the fact that Arthur Penn's last movie is Penn & Teller Get Killed is a metaphor for how crummy most of the New Hollywood directors' last, last films were. So to actually end your career on a decent movie is rare. To end it with, like, a good movie is kind of phenomenal."

He continued, "I mean, most directors' last films are f---ing lousy. Maybe I should not make another movie because I could be really happy with dropping the mic."

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, which scored 10 nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, was Tarantino's ninth film. And while the director has previously stated he would cap his career at 10 movies, he joked about calling it quits if the 2019 film was "really well-received" prior to its release.

"I see myself writing books and starting to write theatre, so I'll still be creative," Tarantino told GQ Australia. "I just think I've given all I have to give to movies."