Quentin Tarantino wishes he had directed ‘Battle Royale’

Victoria Pedretti has signed with CAA for representation.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Bullet Train,” a John Wick-ian romp with Brad Pitt in the aisle seat, arrived in theaters with a $30.1 million opening weekend. That’s enough to top the domestic box office chart, but it’s only a so-so result given “Bullet Train’s” $90 million price tag and Pitt’s star power.

Quentin Tarantino has praised Top Gun: Maverick for providing a “true cinematic spectacle”.The director shared his thoughts on the Tom Cruise sequel on the ReelBlend podcast with Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary, where he was emphatic in his admiration.“I fucking love Top Gun: Maverick,” Tarantino said. “I thought it was fantastic. I saw it at the theaters.

Speaking on CinemaBlend’s ReelBlend podcast yesterday, Quentin Tarantino held forth on the experience of seeing Top Gun: Maverick.

Zack Sharf Count Quentin Tarantino as one of the millions of moviegoers who fell in love with “Top Gun: Maverick” this summer movie season. The director stopped by the ReelBlend podcast this week and had nothing but raves to share about the Tom Cruise sequel.“I fucking love ‘Top Gun: Maverick.’ I thought it was fantastic,” Tarantino said. “I saw it at the theaters.

Right from the start, you know exactly what you are in for with Bullet Train, a non-stop mix of violence, comedy, and more violence, Japanese-style, as filtered through the lens of director David Leitch, a stuntman turned filmmaker whose past credits of Atomic Blonde, Fast & Furious: Hobbs And Shaw, and Deadpool 2 pretty much prepare you for what to expect here. However, even though this was mostly shot on the Sony Pictures lot in Culver City, with some killer production design and a cool train courtesy of David Scheunemann, it undoubtedly feels we are in Tokyo where I am sure the Sony bosses were delighted with the dailies as they came in. Unfortunately, from my vantage point this just seems like a lark for star Brad Pitt, coming off an Oscar for the far superior Quentin Tarantino masterpiece, also from Sony, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and the underrated Ad Astra, both pre-pandemic in 2019. His most notable appearance since has been in a comedic supporting role in The Lost City with Sandra Bullock who returns the favor here in a mostly voiceover role as his “handler,” therapist, self help guide, guru – whatever you want to call her – who is constantly guiding him through the messes he gets himself into.

Peter Debruge Chief Film CriticThe bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto takes about two hours and 15 minutes — just the right amount of time to pull off a cartoonishly over-the-top action movie, in which half a dozen assassins shoot, stab and otherwise perforate each other’s pretty little faces in pursuit of a briefcase stuffed with cash. It’s a high-stakes game of hot potato, choreographed and executed by “Atomic Blonde” director David Leitch, in which a self-deprecating Brat Pitt wears a bucket hat and oversized specs, Bryan Tyree Henry and Aaron Taylor-Johnson play bickering “twin” hitmen Lemon and Tangerine, and “The Princess” wedding crasher Joey King (known here as “the Prince”) is a cunning killer who can fake-cry on command.

Bullet trains seem great; why don’t we have them in the United States? Will I ever get to see Mount Fuji? I wonder what flavors of Kit Kats they sell on that train?These thoughts occurred because my brain refused to engage with this glib, terminally self-satisfied blood-and-bullets extravaganza, one that feels like it was plucked from what we might call the “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” period of American cinema, when Quentin Tarantino’s first two features emboldened far too many young filmmakers to think that they, too, could make a zippy comedy with excessive gunplay, explicit gore, pop-culture references, needle drops, and a briefcase full of cash.Having programmed a film festival from 1995 to 1999, I was subjected to more bad “Reservoir Dogs” wannabes than the average filmgoer, which might explain why this new film turned me off early and never won me back. “Bullet Train” pretty much leaves no cliché of this subgenre unturned, from swoopy, self-conscious camera moves to a shootout scored to an innocuous hit single of the past.

What does one naturally associate with that most enduring and traditional of genres, the stalwart of American cinema that is the Western? For many, it is the violent exuberance of the European visionaries behind the so-called ‘Spaghetti’ Western, which survived to this day in the films of Quentin Tarantino. For the puritans of this world, the measured craft and sometimes questionable social propaganda of the likes of John Ford comes to mind.

Editor’s note: This will start a regular column for Deadline journos to plant their flag in deals, hires and firings and industry developments before they’re fully baked. 

While on the low end of pre-release projections, “Nope” has earned the highest opening weekend for a film with an original screenplay since Peele’s last film, “Us,” earned a $71 million launch in April 2019. Earning praise from critics for its incisive commentary on Hollywood’s exploitation of people of color and the human obsession with spectacle, “Nope” has posted a higher opening than Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which opened to $41 million in July 2019.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterKurt Russell and Wyatt Russell are the latest additions to the cast of Apple’s upcoming live-action series about Godzilla and the Titans.The father and son duo join previously announced cast members Anna Sawai, Ren Watabe, Kiersey Clemons, Joe Tippett and Elisa Lasowski in the show based on Legendary’s growing Monsterverse franchise.In the show, following the thunderous battle between Godzilla and the Titans that leveled San Francisco and the shocking new reality that monsters are real, the series will explore one family’s journey to uncover its buried secrets and a legacy linking them to the secret organization known as Monarch.Kurt is a legendary actor known for his roles in films like “Escape from New York” and “Escape from LA,” “The Thing,” “Big Trouble in Little China,” “Backdraft,” and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” He has also starred in the Quentin Tarantino films “Death Proof” and “The Hateful Eight” while he had a minor role in “Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.” He began his career as a child star in multiple television shows and Disney films like “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes.” He is repped by UTA.Wyatt is known for his starring role in the AMC series “Lodge 49” as well as for shows like “The Good Lord Bird” and “Under the Banner of Heaven.” He is also part of the MCU like his father, having starred in the series “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” He has starred in films such as “Everybody Wants Some,” “22 Jump Street,” and “Overlord.”He is repped by UTA, Narrative, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.Chris Black and Matt Fraction co-created the series with both executive producing.

It’s no secret that Quentin Tarantino wears his influences on his sleeve when making a film. Some would argue that his films aren’t just homages to his inspirations but sometimes verge on, um, “borrowing” from them.

US filmmaker Tim Burton will be feted with France’s prestigious Lumière Award at the 14th edition of the classic film-focused Lumière Festival in Lyon, running October 15-23.

marveled viral tweets in Hebrew following Leo’s birth. (A follow-up tweet earlier this month noted that there are now two such little ones in Israel.)Shortly after marrying, the couple bought a six-bedroom, 2,900-square-foot villa on Elkakhi Street in Ramat Aviv Gimmel, a quiet neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv and within spying distance of the Mediterranean.

TMZ that his father was having trouble breathing, and after being taken to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Hart died Thursday from complications during surgery.Hart led The Delfonics at the beginning of the 1970s soul scene in Philadelphia. Their songs “Didnt I (Blow Your Mind This Time),” “La La (Means I Love You),” “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)” and many others ruled FM radio.

Zack Sharf Quentin Tarantino just welcomed his second child, a baby girl, with wife Daniella Pick over the July 4th holiday weekend. The two had their first child, a son named Leo, in February 2020, and now that the baby is over two years old, it’s time for him to start watching movies with his Oscar-winning father.

He may be known for making violent films for adults but Quentin Tarantino has a soft spot for family fare.