Quentin Tarantino on Retirement, Hateful Eight Inspirations

There comes a time when every talented individual must hang up their proverbial hat and retire -- some, like Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen, seem like they'll be working until someone forces them into retirement. But Quentin Tarantino has a different plan in mind: he wants to retire after he makes 10 films. 'The Hateful Eight' will, appropriately enough, be his eighth feature, and whether he sticks to his guns or not (no pun intended -- OK, pun totally intended) remains to be seen. After all, visionaries like him don't just walk away from doing what they love that easily, do they?

Deadline was on hand at the American Film Market, where Tarantino was joined by some of his cast members from 'The Hateful Eight' to speak to prospective foreign distributors. There, he revealed his plans to retire:

I don’t believe you should stay on stage until people are begging you to get off. I like the idea of leaving them wanting a bit more. I do think directing is a young man’s game and I like the idea of an umbilical cord connection from my first to my last movie. I’m not trying to ridicule anyone who thinks differently, but I want to go out while I’m still hard…I like that I will leave a ten-film filmography, and so I’ve got two more to go after this. It’s not etched in stone, but that is the plan. If I get to the tenth, do a good job and don’t screw it up, well that sounds like a good way to end the old career. If, later on, I come across a good movie, I won’t not do it just because I said I wouldn’t. But ten and done, leaving them wanting more, that sounds right.

When 'Hateful Eight' star Jennifer Jason Leigh expressed sadness that she had only recently entered the Tarantino fold just as he had begun talking about his retirement plans, her co-star Kurt Russell responded with a sentiment that could pretty much sum up the reaction of every Tarantino fan: "You don’t actually believe that s---, do you?"

Then again, it's not like this is the first time he's mentioned it, either. Tarantino talked about retiring back in 2012, too. But at least he seems honest about his retirement plans -- it's not a drastic announcement, and he admits that if the right project or idea came along, he wouldn't let it pass him by.

Tarantino also discussed his classic television Western inspirations for 'The Hateful Eight,' which will not feature any protagonist characters:

It’s less inspired by one Western movie than by Bonanza, The Virginians, High Chaparral. Twice per season, those shows would have an episode where a bunch of outlaws would take the lead characters hostage. They would come to the Ponderosa and hold everybody hostage, or to go Judge Garth’s place–Lee J. Cobb played him–in The Virginians, and take hostages (...) I don’t like that storyline in a modern context, but I love it in a Western where you would pass halfway through the show to find out if they were good or bad guys, and they all had a past that was revealed. I thought, what if I did a movie starring nothing but those characters? No heroes, no Michael Landons. Just a bunch of nefarious guys in a room, all telling back stories that may or may not be true. Trap those guys together in a room with a blizzard outside, give them guns, and see what happens.

And we'll just have to see what happens when 'The Hateful Eight' hits theaters later next year.