Academy Award-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson has provided an update regarding filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming tenth feature film. Speaking at the 2026 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Richardson indicated that preliminary preparations for the director’s next project are tentatively scheduled to begin in the summer of 2027.
The update arrives after Tarantino formally canceled development on his previously announced period drama, The Movie Critic, in 2024. That scrapped project, which was expected to star Brad Pitt and feature a late-1960s Los Angeles setting, was abandoned by the director due to thematic similarities to his 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Richardson, who has collaborated with Tarantino on six features since Kill Bill: Volume 1, revealed to Screen Daily that he had originally stepped away from filming Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic to shoot The Movie Critic before its cancellation.
According to Richardson, the upcoming, untitled feature will depart from the concepts established in The Movie Critic or potential sequels, describing the new script as a completely fresh creative direction for the filmmaker. However, active development on the feature film remains on hold until Tarantino completes his current obligations in live theater. Tarantino is currently focusing his attention on writing and directing his debut stage production, The Popinjay Cavalier. Produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sonia Friedman Productions, the theatrical production is a swashbuckling farce comedy set in 1830s Europe. The play is scheduled to premiere in London’s West End in early 2027. Richardson noted that the precise start date for the film’s pre-production will ultimately depend on the scheduling and performance run of the London stage show.
While the exact plot details and genre parameters for the cinematic project remain strictly confidential, the targeted 2027 development window aligns with Tarantino’s long-maintained professional objective to conclude his feature film directing career after completing ten standalone films.
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