How far will Quentin Tarantino go to avoid directing his long-mooted 10th and final film? Wales with Kylie Minogue, apparently.
The eccentric Pulp Fiction filmmaker, 63, is currently closer to Holyhead than Hollywood after being spotted in the Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl alongside the “I Can’t Get You Out of My Head” singer in a chaotic pairing you’d only expect had their names been pulled out of a hat.
Unlikely duo Tarantino and Minogue are co-stars in Tangled Up in Blue, a new film from British director Jamie Adams, and were seen “laughing and singing together” while filming a wake scene, according to Nation.Cymru.
Tarantino was also seen enjoying pints with the film’s crew at the Parkgate Hotel in Cardiff. It’s the latest career swerve keeping the filmmaker from making whatever that final movie will be, which begs the question: what exactly is he up to?
It’s worth noting that Tarantino has worked with the film’s director once before – for an improvisational film co-starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Simon Pegg. It premiered at Tribeca Film Festival earlier this month.
But acting isn’t out of the ordinary for Tarantino (or indeed former Neighbours star Minogue); as well as making Oscar-winning films Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012), Tarantino is also a performer, starring opposite George Clooney in 1996 vampire thriller From Dusk Till Dawn and appearing as a blind priest in Adam Sandler film (and unsung comedy classic) Little Nicky (2000). He’s also made appearances in his own films, dating right back to his debut, Reservoir Dogs, in 1992.
Tarantino’s latest feature, the fable Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie as film star Sharon Tate, who was tragically killed by the Manson Family cult, was released in 2019. Ever since, he’s made no secret of the fact that whatever film he directs next will be his last – with now-abandoned candidates being an R-rated Star Trek film (yes, really) and The Movie Critic, a drama about a reviewer of porn films in the 1970s.
You can’t blame him for not wanting to rush the idea – after all, his is a filmography with just one dud (The Hateful Eight; not Death Proof, if you’re wondering). There’s a lot of pressure on ensuring his swansong lives up to the hype!
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And while Tarantino continues to mull over what it’ll be, he appears to be having fun doing anything but making a decision: he’s written a sequel to Hollywood focused on Pitt’s character Cliff Booth, which will be released later this year (David Fincher directs), and it was recently revealed he would stage a play in London’s West End in January 2027 (a “rambunctious” farce set in 1830s Europe, no less). Earlier this year, he even took to pissing off the entirety of Hollywood by launching unnecessary criticism against Paul Dano, Matthew Lillard and Owen Wilson.
With his name increasingly popping up in the most unexpected of places, that 10th and final film looks further away; Tarantino is clearly in his give-no-s***s unexpected appearance era. There’s no guessing what he’ll do next: maybe he’ll host his own Netflix baking show, sign up for a stint on Celebrity Traitors, or back a “No Violence in Films” policy?
Regardless of your views on Tarantino, he’s earned the right to make us wait.
