Tarantino explains why he scrapped plans to direct his script The Movie Critic, which would’ve marked his 10th film — and final one, if he keeps his promise to stop helming features at that count.

“I wasn’t really excited about dramatizing what I wrote when I was in pre-production, partly because I’m using the skillset that I learned from ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ of ‘How are we going to turn Los Angeles into the Hollywood of 1969 without using CGI?’”

Tarantino explained in conversation on the Church of Tarantino podcast, recorded in Los Angeles at his coffee shop Pam’s Coffy. “It was something we had to pull off. We had to achieve it. It wasn’t for sure that we could do it. ‘The Movie Critic,’ there was nothing to figure out. I already kind of knew, more or less, how to turn L.A. into an older time. It was too much like the last one.”

He also clarified that the story of “The Movie Critic” had nothing to do with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” despite rumors that the project was a narrative follow-up.

When Brad Pitt got cast in a lead role, it led to speculation that the star would be reprising his “Once Upon a Time” role of Cliff Booth.

But Tarantino said that there were no shared characters between the two stories, though he called “The Movie Critic” a “spiritual sequel.” He also hinted that he could loop back to the project should he change his mind, as it’s already written.

The Netflix production, which is now shooting in Los Angeles, is written and produced by Tarantino, but David Fincher is directing.

Meanwhile, Tarantino plans to open a play in London in 2026 before working on his 10th feature film.

“It’s a little crazy to listen to podcasts and hear all these amateur psychiatrists psychoanalyze as if they fucking know what they’re talking about what’s going on with me, about how I’m so scared, alright, of my 10th film,” Tarantino said, “I’m not paralyzed with fear. Trust me.”