Four years after director Quentin Tarantino brought his film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to the Cannes Film Festival, the filmmaker returns to the Croisette.
The 60-year-old filmmaker has been named Guest of Honor at the Director’s Fortnight, held annually alongside Cannes, according to Variety.
He will be in the south of France to present a secret screening on May 25th, the closing night of Directors’ Fortnight, following his promotional tour of his book Cinema Speculation.
“An extraordinary and generous cinephile, Tarantino is at home at Fortnight. He will be our guest this year to present a secret screening and discuss his counter-history of cinema,” Directors’ Fortnight said in a statement.
“In 1969 the Directors’ Fortnight was launched in Cannes, a counter-program with free-spirited films from all over the world. In 1969, a new generation of filmmakers rose up against old Hollywood in California,” the statement continued.
QT: Four years after director Quentin Tarantino brought his film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood to the Cannes Film Festival, the filmmaker returns to the Croisette
In attendance: He will be in the south of France to present a secret screening on May 25th, the closing night of Directors’ Fortnight, following his promotional tour of his book Cinema Speculation
“Quentin Tarantino recently published an intriguing analysis of this in a critical essay on 1970s cinema,” the statement added.
The directors’ 14-day statement ended with a possible hint as to what the secret screening might be, adding that “there will be a rockabilly vibe on closing day.”
The filmmaker has a long history with Cannes, having screened six of his nine feature films in competition.
Tarantino has been promoting his new book, Cinema Speculation, with stops in Paris, London and Amsterdam recently.
Last month it was reported that the filmmaker was gearing up for his latest film, titled The Movie Critic.
Early reports indicated that the project will be set in late 1970s Los Angeles and will focus on a female film critic.
Early speculation was that the film would focus on Pauline Kael, one of Tarantino’s favorite critics, whose book Cinema Speculation was said to be inspired by Kael’s own film essays
However, the filmmaker confirmed at a Cinema Speculation Q&A in Paris that it would not be about Kael, although he did confirm that it would be set in 1977.
Director: “Quentin Tarantino recently published a compelling analysis in a critical essay on 1970s cinema,” the statement added
: Tarantino has been promoting his new book, Cinema Speculation, with stops in Paris, London and Amsterdam (above) recently
That was the year that the first Star Wars film was unleashed on the world, and it was also around the time that what became known as the “American New Wave” of cinema, with iconic films by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.
As with most of Tarantino’s recent projects, there is no studio home yet, although sources claim the project could go to buyers this week.
Sony is credited with pioneering the project, not only because the studio distributed its latest film, 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but because they also gave Tarantino a unique deal that sees the copyright to the film reverts to him after a year Certain period of time.
This deal put Tarantino in an elite group of filmmakers who got back the film rights to her, including George Lucas, Mel Gibson, Peter Jackson, and Richard Linklater.
Sources claimed in 2019, just before Once Upon a Time in Hollywood hit theaters, that copyright reverted to Tarantino after 30 years, although others claimed it was 20 years or even 10 years.
Copyright was the sticking point for Warner Bros., the other studio that bid for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2017.
A source claimed Warner Bros. wouldn’t do that “because then they’d have to do the same deal to Christopher Nolan.”
Production on The Movie Critic is slated to begin sometime this fall, although no casting has been announced yet.
Production: Production on The Movie Critic is slated to begin sometime this fall, although no casting has been announced yet