Tarantino ‘Thinking a Lot About’ Writing ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ Novel
Zack Sharf
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” might be a getting a novelization courtesy of Quentin Tarantino. The director revealed on the latest “Pure Cinema Podcast” episode that he’s currently eyeing a novel adaptation of his 10-time Oscar nominee. Tarantino said to the podcast hosts, “I hadn’t thought about that until recently. But now I’m thinking a lot about it. I might be writing a novelization to ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.'” Sony Pictures released “Hollywood” last summer to rave reviews and $374 million worldwide, a big haul for an original adult drama. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as a television actor and his stuntman struggling to adapt to changing Hollywood in 1969. Margot Robbie appears as Sharon Tate. The film won Oscars for Best Supporting Actor (Pitt) and Best Production Design.
Whether or not Tarantino moves forward with a novelization of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” it appears likely fans will be getting some kind of supplemental version of his 2019 drama. The director has been vocal about leaving several scenes and characters on the cutting room floor, and he told IndieWire after the film debuted at Cannes that his assembly cut of the film ran over the four-hour mark. Brad Pitt said last September Tarantino was eyeing a miniseries release of “Hollywood” that would put back the deleted scenes.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” marked the ninth feature of Tarantino’s career, making it his penultimate effort should he stick with his current plan to retire from feature filmmaking after his 10th movie. Tarantino has expressed interest in moving to other artistic mediums such as plays and books, so a “Hollywood” novelization would make sense for the director. Tarantino said last fall he was also planning to write a novel about a World War II veteran jaded by Hollywood movies.
“I’ve got this character who had been in World War II and he saw a lot of bloodshed there and now he’s back home, and it’s like the ’50s, and he doesn’t respond to movies anymore,” Tarantino said. “He finds them juvenile after everything that he’s been through. As far as he’s concerned, Hollywood movies are movies. And so then, all of a sudden, he starts hearing about these foreign movies by Kurosawa and Fellini. And so he’s like, ‘Well, maybe they might have something more than this phony Hollywood stuff.’”
There’s clearly books in Tarantino’s future. The director has not announced any plans for a follow-up movie to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” The movie is available to watch on VOD and home video.
