Bold comparison accompanies Quentin Tarantino's pick for favorite director
Quentin Tarantino crowns his favorite director — and the audacious comparison he draws tips his hand about another filmmaker he clearly admires.
The handoff is unusually personal: Quentin Tarantino has given David Fincher the keys to The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a Netflix- backed follow-up to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood . Tarantino said Brad Pitt helped bring the two filmmakers together — a fitting bridge, given Pitt’s Oscar- winning turn as Cliff Booth in the original film.
Fincher takes on Cliff Booth
Speaking on the podcast The Church of Tarantino, the director explained why he’d let someone else steer a character he created, and why it ’s Fincher in particular.
“I like the idea that any great director, a great director, would adapt my work,” Tarantino said.
He didn’t hedge on who tops his list, either.
“Fincher is my favorite director,” he added.
Tarantino, who’s famously protective of his scripts, said Fincher’s interest signaled a level of seriousness he respects. He also put himself in the same elite tier, framing the matchup as one master handing the baton to another.
The Adventures of Cliff Booth continues the world fans met in 2019, where Pitt’s stuntman stole scenes and collected a Supporting Actor Oscar. With Netflix on board and Fincher now “in the chair,” Tarantino is sitting this one out after writing the script.
What Tarantino’s doing next
On The Graham Norton Show, Tarantino said the script for his long-discussed tenth and final movie is finished — and that he plans to take his time. First up is a stage detour he’s writing and directing, with family time and a little real-world living before he decides how to mount that last film. He previously shelved an earlier version of his farewell, The Movie Critic, in 2024.
The play, a swashbuckling comedy titled The Popinjay Cavalier and starring Sacha Baron Cohen, now has dates locked in London.