Quentin Tarantino May Write a ‘Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood’ Novelization​

Published on April 2, 2020

Quentin Tarantino isn’t done with his epic Hollywood fantasy, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. The hangout film was Tarantino’s second biggest hit and ties with Jackie Brown as his most heartfelt movie. Audiences loved the ensemble cast of characters as much as Tarantino, who may give us more of them with a novelization. 

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood: The Novel

More often than not, filmmakers do not write novelizations of their movies. It’s not common practice. If anyone was to do it, though, it’s Tarantino, who writes his scripts like novels anyway. During an appearance on the Pure Cinema podcast, Tarantino stated he “might” be writing a novelization of his Hollywood epic: 

“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.”

We Want It

Who wouldn’t want to spend more time with Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth, Sharon Tate, and QT’s version of the Manson family? To get to spend more time with them in the words of Tarantino, that sounds wonderful.

Keep in mind, Tarantino has discussed promising ideas in the past that never happened. He’s teased Kill Bill Vol. 3 (which could still happen), a Vega Brothers movie (which can’t happen), and a stage version of The Hateful Eight (which could always happen). Tarantino has made it clear, though, he plans on writing novels once he retires from filmmaking after his next movie. Maybe Hollywood is on his list to write. 

We may see more of Tarantino’s characters in an extended version of Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood as well. Tarantino has a four-hour cut he wants to show audiences in good time. Sony released an extended version last year with around an extra 15 minutes or so, but Tarantino is saving the four-hour cut for later. 

A Bounty Law Show?

The fictional TV show Rick Dalton starred in, Bounty Law, is another project Quentin Tarantino has on his plate. He’s actually already written episodes of the TV series, which he would direct. Technically, it’d be Tarantino’s first spinoff. As he told Deadline, the series wouldn’t be about Rick Dalton but a real deal version of Bounty Law

“As far as the Bounty Law shows, I want to do that, but it will take me a year and a half. It got an introduction from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but I don’t really consider it part of that movie even though it is. This is not about Rick Dalton playing Jake Cahill. It’s about Jake Cahill. Where all this came from was, I ended up watching a bunch of Wanted, Dead or Alive, and The Rifleman, and Tales of Wells Fargo, these half-hour shows to get in the mindset of Bounty Law, the kind of show Rick was on. I’d liked them before, but I got really into them. The concept of telling a dramatic story in half an hour. You watch and think, wow, there’s a helluva lot of storytelling going on in 22 minutes. I thought, I wonder if I can do that? I ended up writing five half-hour episodes. So I’ll do them, and I will direct all of them.”

What Else is Tarantino Working On? 

Quentin Tarantino recently became a father. First off, congratulations to him. As of this moment, he’s a busy man who recently completed his awards campaign for his ninth film. He hasn’t committed yet to whatever his next and last film may be. 

Sadly, Tarantino’s double-bill movie theater, New Beverly Cinema, is closed at this time due to the coronavirus. If anyone is craving more of Tarantino’s voice, he’s been spending his time lately writing movie reviews. Tarantino is publishing them on the official site for the New Beverly Cinema website

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Jack Giroux is a Staff Writer at Grit Daily. Based in Los Angeles, he is an entertainment journalist who's previously written for Thrillist, Slash Film, Film School Rejects, and The Film Stage.

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