Samuel L. Jackson has a role in Quentin Tarantino‘s “The Movie Critic,” and now we might be able to add another “Pulp Fiction” star to the cast of his “final” movie. Tarantino is interested in casting John Travolta for a role in “The Movie Critic.” The movie, which is set in 1977, was supposed to start filming in Los Angeles this autumn, but the strike has put a stop to it.
Potential Cast Of ‘The Movie Critic’
If sources are to be believed, the entire movie has already been cast, but due to the strike, nothing has been made official. So, we’ll have to wait for the press announcement for, hopefully, just a few more months.
This indicates that Bruce Willis, John Travolta, and Samuel L. Jackson are rumoured to be in the movie. After Bruce Willis was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, sources indicated Tarantino wanted to make the project the actor’s final performance in a movie.
Paul Walter Hauser Offered The Lead Role In ‘The Movie Critic’
According to sources, Paul Walter Hauser is said to have been offered the lead role prior to the Hollywood actors’ strike, which has halted development on the project.
Hauser was reportedly in talks to play Jim Sheldon, a fictional film reviewer who, according to rumours, will be modelled after William Margold, a real-life critic whom Tarantino referred to in his book Cinema Speculation as the “first-string film critic for the sex rag the Hollywood Press”.
Hauser’s casting would make sense as the director previously said he would work with someone new for his final movie. “I haven’t decided yet but it’s going to be somebody in the 35-year-old ball park. It’ll definitely be a new leading man for me,” he explained earlier this year.
When asked if he would consider a British star for the role, he replied: “No. The truth of the matter is, yes, obviously, a Brit could pull it off, but I don’t want to cast a Brit.”
Hauser is best known for supporting roles in I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman, Late Night, Da 5 Bloods and Cruella. He also played the title character in Clint Eastwood’s 2019 film Richard Jewell.
About ‘The Movie Critic’
Speaking about The Movie Critic, Tarantino said the project is set in Southern California in 1977 and would be based on a real-life critic for a porno magazine. “He wrote about mainstream movies and he was the second-string critic,” the director said. “I think he was a very good critic. He was cynical as hell.
His reviews were a cross between early Howard Stern and what Travis Bickle might be if he were a film critic. Think about Travis’ diary entries.”
Tarantino was forced to look for a new leading man as none of his previously favoured collaborators fit into the age range for the part.
During the interview, Tarantino also said he would be looking for a male American actor in his mid-30s for the lead role and Hauser is an American actor, aged 36.
The Movie Critic will be Tarantino’s first film in four years since the release of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019. Production on the project has been slowed due to the strike, which has been ongoing since Friday, July 14th.
The Movie Critic claims to genuinely demonstrate the filmmaker’s growth over his illustrious oeuvre. Some fans may have noticed that Tarantino’s tastes have changed from early on in his career, when he tended to favour ninjas and gangsters, to more fictionalised historical retellings in his more recent work.
This last movie is not an exception. It will be a historical drama set in the 1970s, but rather than centering on a famous incident, it will tell a more intimate story related to Tarantino’s early years.
