How Many Films Quentin Tarantino Has Made (& Why He Counts It Wrong)

Exactly how many Quentin Tarantino movies directed are there? Tarantino has one more movie left – according to his self-imposed 10-film goal, but he may have already directed more than nine movies. Tarantino’s 10-films-only limit was reached with the release of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, even though it was billed as Tarantino’s ninth film. Since 1987, Quentin Tarantino has directed a short film, a segment within a movie, and several feature films. Tarantino has also written several screenplays for movies he didn’t direct, and once served as a “guest director” for a sequence in a Robert Rodriguez film. Apart from being a director, Tarantino is also an accomplished screenwriter

Tarantino has written scripts for Tony Scott’s True Romance (1993), Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994), and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk till Dawn (1996). Tarantino also directed “The Man From Hollywood” in the movie Four Rooms. But unlike the kill counts in Quentin Tarantino’s movies, the number of movies he has directed is less clear. When it comes to counting Quentin Tarantino movies directed, there is a conflict between how the film community counts his movies. How many Tarantino movies were officially directed when taking everything into account, and how will the real number affect Tarantino’s 10-film-only rule?

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How Many Movies Quentin Tarantino Has Directed

According to Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood marks his ninth movie. This means there’s one more left to make before he retires. But that doesn’t add up, since he’s directed 10 full-length feature films. Here are all the Quentin Tarantino movies directed as part of his filmography: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Kill Bill (2003/2004), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009), Django Unchained (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015), and the aforementioned Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019).

From Tarantino’s perspective, Kill Bill is one collective movie, which would technically include Kill Bill: Volume 3 if it ever gets directed. In reality, Kill Bill was split into two separate releases — Kill Bill: Volume 1 and the sequel Kill Bill: Volume 2, released in 2003 and 2004, respectively. As Kill Bill: Volume 2 is the continuation of the first part of the story, Tarantino is justified in considering the Kill Bill saga as just one film. However, the fact is that they’re still two disparate films in the same way that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 and Part 2 are separate films.

With that in mind, there are actually already 10 Quentin Tarantino movies directed, and that’s discounting his first movie ever (which ended up being a somewhat long short film): My Best Friend’s Wedding (1987). Tarantino may very well choose, artistically, to keep Kill Bill as one movie (without taking into account a potential Kill Bill 3). This could sufficiently disregard the fact that he’s actually directed more than nine films, with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being his tenth. If Hollywood were to count all actual Quentin Tarantino movies directed with him behind the camera, then it’s fair to say that he’s directed 11 movies altogether, though short films aren’t typically associated with theatrical releases.

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Why Quentin Tarantino Is Only Making 10 Movies

While he has drawn a lot of attention to the fact that he only wants to have 10 Quentin Tarantino movies directed before he officially closes out his time as a director, Tarantino’s reasoning is due largely to the idea that directors make pretty terrible final films. Tarantino’s argued the quality of a director’s films wanes over time, and he would want to cap off his time as a director with a good movie rather than a horrible one.

It’s Quentin Tarantino’s legacy – what he wants to leave behind as a filmmaker. This makes a world of sense when taking into account Tarantino’s filmography and choices in the films he directs. While it’s hard to say for certain if Quentin Tarantino will actually follow through with only making 10 movies (and he’s already, technically, directed more than that), the director doesn’t think a comeback is entirely off the table.

The Right Viewing Order For Quentin Tarantino’s Movies

He has confirmed that most of the Quentin Tarantino movies directed by him exist in one universe, but even though this affirms the theory about his movies being connected, there’s no official “correct” viewing order for these films. That said, viewing Tarantino’s movies chronologically – in order of their respective release dates – would be the best way to see his evolution as a director. Here’s the recommended viewing order for Quentin Tarantino’s films:

• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Jackie Brown (1997)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
• Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
• Death Proof (2007)
• Inglourious Basterds (2009)
• Django Unchained (2012)
• The Hateful Eight (2015)
• Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

Related: Quentin Tarantino Movie Shared Universe Explained

Is Tarantino only making 10 movies an unbendable rule in the director’s long and stellar career? The short answer is no – it’s unlikely that Quentin Tarantino would end his filmmaking career with Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. Apart from how Tarantino has raked in several international movie awards with his latest films, Tarantino’s movie universe still has many stories to be unraveled.

What Will Tarantino’s Next Movie Be?

Concerning Quentin Tarantino movies directed, he said he wants his next movie to be a comedy western, although there’s been no news of any development regarding any such project, so it’s difficult to ascertain what Tarantino’s next movie will be. In the past, Tarantino has cited John Wayne’s Rio Bravo as the perfect date movie, and combined with the dry humor of the director’s own films, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tarantino comes up with another iconic Neo-Western.

There was also a chance he was returning as a producer, as he reportedly has the movie Django/Zorro in pre-production, which would feature Jamie Foxx’s version of Django. However, writer Jared Carmichael said the movie is dead at this time (via GQ). Apart from the lack of updates on this front, Tarantino’s Star Trek project has notably fallen through, and there’s no news of Kill Bill 3 getting developed either. That said, with the director having embarked on a national tour for his book “Cinema Speculation,” Quentin Tarantino seems to be completing his desired transition to becoming an author.

Movies Tarantino Didn’t Direct But Produced

The total of Quentin Tarantino movies directed totals 10, although he counts Kill Bill as one. With that said, there are so many more movies that he had his hands in. There are those he directed segments, which include one segment in Four Rooms, and he is listed as a special guest director on Sin City. He also directed a scene in From Dusk Till Dawn and wrote several movies throughout his career, as well as worked as a script doctor, with credits on movies like True Romance and Natural Born Killers.

However, he also has a lot of producer credits, meaning he helped shepherd many movies to the big screen by lending his name to the projects. He was the executive producer on both Four Rooms and From Dusk Till Dawn, where he also helped in directing both of the movies. He also helped out his friend Eli Roth when he lent out his name as executive producer on Hostel, the horror director’s breakout movie. The last time Quentin Tarantino worked in a producer role on a movie he didn’t direct was in 2008 with the Larry Bishop movie Hell Ride.

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