Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will make his literary debut next year as part of a two-book deal with publisher HarperCollins, Deadline reports.
Tarantino, known for decidedly un-family-friendly movies like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, will publish a novelization of his film Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood next summer. The publisher describes the novel, Tarantino’s first, as “at once hilarious, delicious, and brutal.”
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, about a Los Angeles actor (Leonardo DiCaprio) and a stuntman (Brad Pitt) in 1969, was a hit with critics, and earned 10 Academy Award nominations. Tarantino said he’s long been a fan of novels based on movies, calling it an “often marginalized, yet beloved sub-genre in literature.”
Tarantino teased a novel last year, but not this one. In a conversation with Martin Scorsese, Tarantino said he was working on a book about a World War II veteran who becomes enamored with foreign films.
Tarantino will follow Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood with Cinema Speculation, a nonfiction book that HarperCollins says will be a “deep dive into the movies of the 1970s, a rich mix of essays, reviews, personal writing, and tantalizing ‘what if’s,’ from one of cinema’s most celebrated filmmakers, and its most devoted fan.”
Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is slated for publication on June 29, 2021. No release date for Cinema Speculation has been announced.
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
