Quentin Tarantino has completed a screenplay for what he intends to be his tenth and final feature film, but fans will have to wait longer to see it on the big screen. The celebrated director revealed during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show that while he has written a script he really likes, he plans to postpone production until he fulfills his current theater commitments and spends time with his family.
Speaking to host Graham Norton alongside fellow guests Ellen DeGeneres, Colin Farrell, and Gemma Chan, Tarantino explained his measured approach to concluding his directing career. The filmmaker has long maintained that he will retire from feature filmmaking after reaching ten movies, following hits like Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds, and his most recent release, 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The Road to Film Number Ten Takes a Detour
Although Tarantino confirmed that a finished script exists for his final project, he has not announced a production schedule, cast list, or official release date. Instead, his immediate professional focus centers squarely on the London stage.
Tarantino is writing and directing a new West End production titled The Popinjay Cavalier. The production began as a screenplay before the director realized the material was better suited for the theater. Described as a swashbuckling comedy combined with French farce, the play is set in 1830s Europe and stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Rupert Sebastian Thomas Jr., an actor who lands in dangerous territory after making ill-advised comments about the French.
Previews for The Popinjay Cavalier are scheduled to begin at London’s Phoenix Theatre on February 23, 2027, with the official opening night set for March 18, 2027. The engagement is slated to run through June 13.
“I’ve written a script that I could do that I really, really like, but I have to do the play and see who I am, right? I’ll finish the play, and then I’ll go back, be with my family for a while, and then live and then see what that guy wants to do,” Tarantino told Graham Norton.
Shifting Plans and Recent Projects
The delay on Tarantino’s final film follows several pivots in his post-2019 career. The director previously spent considerable time developing a project titled The Movie Critic before ultimately abandoning it in April 2024. During subsequent interviews, he noted that while he liked the script, the technical requirements of recreating an earlier era of Los Angeles offered fewer new discoveries for him as a filmmaker.
While audiences await official details on his final movie, Tarantino’s creative output remains active across other mediums. He wrote the screenplay for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, a follow-up to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood directed by David Fincher with Brad Pitt reprising his role. That project begins an exclusive global IMAX run in late November ahead of its Netflix premiere in December, alongside a companion novel authored by Tarantino.
For now, Tarantino remains focused on his upcoming theatrical debut in London. Only after completing the run of The Popinjay Cavalier and taking time to step away from the cameras will the director assess his creative direction and decide when-or if-to bring his final cinematic script to life.
