Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino has disclosed that amid his current work on a stage play set to debut on the London West End next year, he has another Western script written within the past six years that might never be fully produced. In a recent conversation with The Church of Tarantino podcast, Tarantino shared insights about various projects he has developed since his film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, including a play, a tie-in book, and other writing endeavors, while revealing plans about this lesser-known script.
The Fate of an Unused Western Screenplay
During the podcast, Tarantino spoke about the mysterious Western screenplay he wrote but has ultimately set aside. Rather than producing it as a standalone film, he hinted at the possibility of repurposing elements of it for other works. Tarantino said,
“I wrote a western script that I’m not going to really do anything with. But I have it all right. I might, I might rape and pillage it and rip parts out of it for other things,”
indicating he may cannibalize parts of the script rather than complete the entire project.
This revelation adds an intriguing layer to Tarantino’s creative process, showing how he might integrate unused material from one script into other projects, rather than discarding it entirely.
Other Projects in Development: The Bounty Law Spinoff and More
Alongside this unpublished Western, Tarantino mentioned a spinoff series tied to Bounty Law, a segment originally featured within Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. He explained,
“Yeah [‘Bounty Law’] that was written during the time of when I wrote the [‘OUATIH’] script.”
However, he remains uncertain about whether he will return to that storyline, either as a continuation about Jake Cahill’s bounty hunting in the Old West or as a behind-the-scenes narrative about the filming of the TV show central to the story.
Tarantino also showed reluctance to revisit previous works for extended releases, as noted in his comments about a longer edit of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, where he bluntly stated,
“My dick’s not that hard about old shit, all right?”
This bluntness illustrates his hesitation to rework past work and highlights why he shelved projects like The Movie Critic, which he felt overlapped too much with his existing films.
Reasons Behind Abandoned or Delayed Projects
Tarantino’s reluctance to pursue some sequels and expansions, such as Kill Bill 3, The Vega Brothers, and the Inglourious Basterds spinoff Killer Crow, could stem from his concern about repeating himself creatively. This cautious approach may explain why he handed off The Adventures of Cliff Booth to director David Fincher, with Brad Pitt in the lead role, instead of directing it himself.
The Western Genre’s Role in Tarantino’s Career and Future Prospects
The Western genre holds a special place in Tarantino’s work, influenced heavily by icons such as Sergio Leone and the Spaghetti Western style. To date, he has solely directed two definitive Western films—Django Unchained and The Hateful Eight—though Western elements surface in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood through the depiction of Bounty Law and Lancer series sequences.
Despite this strong connection, it remains uncertain if Tarantino’s next and possibly final film will be a Western. He has also expressed interest in exploring other genres, such as science fiction or horror, which he has briefly experimented with in earlier works like From Dusk Till Dawn and Death Proof.
Looking Ahead: What May Shape Tarantino’s Future Work
With numerous projects either in early development or sidelined, Quentin Tarantino appears to be critically weighing his creative choices while balancing new ventures like the West End play with the reuse of material from unused scripts. His comments reveal a degree of ambivalence about revisiting earlier themes, and a pattern of recycling ideas rather than launching entirely new installments of existing franchises.
As Tarantino’s body of work continues to evolve, his approach to unpublished scripts and previously conceived concepts could shape a uniquely layered future for his filmography, especially considering his affection for the Western genre and his desire to explore fresh territory.
