Few directors ever reach the popularity and renown of movie stars, but Quentin Tarantino reached that status decades ago. This is largely in part due to his big personality, which translates well on to screen too. The way he passionately talks about his influences and his hot takes on violence throughout the years is all perfectly captured in his movies, but it can come at a price.

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From confined indie movies to Western epics, Tarantino's career trajectory in terms of the budget has been fairly natural. For the most part, the director's movies get bigger by budget with each consecutive film. However, there are a couple of fascinating exceptions, as at times, the director intentionally decided to dial the set pieces and vastness back. All below mentioned movie budgets are according to Box Office Mojo.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) - $1.2 Million

Mr White preparing to torture a cop in Reservoir Dogs.

Some Redditors think Reservoir Dogs is boring, and though that's one of the hottest takes about Quentin Tarantino's movies, it's easy to see why. Most of the movie, except for a couple of flashback scenes, takes place in a rundown warehouse. But the solitary location is the only way the movie would have been possible, given its meager budget.

Outside of the salary for the cast, most of the budget probably went on squibs and fake blood, as despite being set in one open room, it's still a typical Tarantino movie and almost everyone gets shot. And as Reservoir Dogs is a heist movie that doesn't show the heist, Tarantino has said that if the budget would have allowed for it, he would have shot the bank robbery.

Pulp Fiction (1994) - $8 Million

Jules and Vincent pointing guns at someone in Pulp Fiction.

After his directorial debut, Tarantino immediately became one of '90s cinema "wunderkinder," meaning that he was sought after and would never have to worry about budget restraints again. Compared to Reservoir Dogs' tight $1.2 million, $8 million for Pulp Fiction must have felt like all the money in the world.

As per the cast wishlist of Tarantino's that leaked on Reddit in 2015, the director was able to cast almost all his first choices with this amount of money. On top of that, the budget allowed him to make not only a compelling crime movie, but establish a world full of fascinating characters, cigarette brands, and fast-food chains that he'd continue to build on in every movie.

Jackie Brown (1997) - $12 Million

Pam Grier driving a car in Jackie Brown.

Though Pulp Fiction unbelievably made $100 million at the box office, making more than 10 times its budget, Tarantino, surprisingly, wasn't offered a large amount more going forward. Instead, the director was given just $12 million for Jackie Brown, which is a relatively small budget after releasing two money-making indie hits. By comparison, the director's peer and fellow '90s wunderkind, Paul Thomas Anderson, was granted $37 million for his third movie after two similar-scale successes.

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However, one thing Tarantino does better than most, as proved with Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, is how to stretch the budget as far as possible. The movie looks incredible, as the costume and set design are so accomplished and eye-popping compared to his previous two movies.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) / Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) - $30 Million Each

The Bride fighting with a sword in Kill Bill.

The budgets for the Kill Bill movies could be looked at in one of two ways. Either they had a brazen $30 million thrown at each one or, as the two volumes were originally conceived as one movie, the one four-hour epic had a budget of $60 million.

That's an amount Tarantino had never even been close to being in control of until more than a decade into his career. It wasn't until midway through production that Tarantino and Harvey Weinstein agreed to split the movie into two, which was revealed in Tarantino's interview with Joe Rogan. But officially, it's reported that each movie had a budget of $30 million.

Death Proof (2007) - $30 Million

Stuntman Mike sitting in his car in Death Proof.

It's surprising that Death Proof needed a budget of $30 million, as that figure seems high for a film inspired by schlocky B-movies. Not only that, but like Reservoir Dogs, the movie takes place in very few locations, and most of it is set on open, deserted roads as it follows a psychotic stuntman stalk two women.

However, one major thing that the movie continues from Kill Bill is the sheer amount of stuntwork, only Death Proof doubles down on that. Most of the budget outside of cast salaries was surely spent on stunts, and no one really knows how many custom-built Chevy Nova's were destroyed during the making of the movie.

The Hateful Eight (2015) - $44 Million

Major Marquis Warren with two guns in Hateful Eight.

Considering that Tarantino was inspired by his own movie, Reservoir Dogs, while writing and directing The Hateful Eight, it comes as a shock that the 2015 movie has a budget 40 times that of its inspiration. Just like the 1992 film, most of The Hateful Eight takes place in one room, but some things clearly show where that $44 million went.

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For starters, it has an all-star cast, and not just a cast full of supposed has-beens, which is a Tarantino tried-and-true formula. It stars Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, and Channing Tatum, among many others, and was also shot in 70mm, which is much more expensive than the 35mm that Tarantino usually shoots with.

Inglourious Basterds (2009) - $70 Million

Archie Hicox smoking a cigarette in a basement bar in Inglourious Basterds

Inglourious Basterds is Tarantino's first true sprawling epic. It's one of the director's longest movies up to this point, it's a period drama, and it interpolates real-life events. Not to mention that it's the most violent film in the director's filmography and has the biggest set pieces, so far.

It's clear where the $70 million budget went from the very opening scene, as an entire farmhouse in France gets shot up, not to mention that it had to be altered to look period-specific, as did all of the costumes. From the movie theatre to the tavern, there are so many detailed 1940s sets that feel lived in, which wouldn't have been cheap. Pitt's salary for the film was almost 15 percent of the budget alone, as he earned a base salary of $10 million, but it was worth it, as Aldo Raine is arguably Brad Pitt's best role.

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) - $90 Million

Cliff Booth and Bruce Lee in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

As The Weinstein Company was going bust at the time, Tarantino opened his 10th film up to a bidding war between movie studios. Sony won Once Upon A Time In Hollywood by offering Tarantino the budget of $90 million, and to give Tarantino credit, the result looks much more expensive.

The movie stars three of the biggest movie stars in the world, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie, and for any other movie, their combined salaries would almost reach the budget alone. On top of that, entire major LA streets were transformed into the '60s by building store facades onto each and every building. However, the studio might have earned a little money back, as some of the businesses asked to keep their '60s facade, one of the best behind-the-scenes facts about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Django Unchained (2012) - $100 Million

King Shultz and Django walking in Django Unchained.

Making another revisionist history period epic, as he did with Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino looked further back into history, setting Django Unchained in the 19th century. That meant that it was going to be another extraordinarily expensive affair.

Django Unchained had a $100 million budget. That's due to building entire sets to look like 1800s western towns, casting movie stars Jamie Foxx and Leonardo DiCaprio, and being the most action-packed movie the director has ever made. The film even ends with an entire plantation burning down, which is one of the most heroic moments in a Tarantino movie, but it would have cost a pretty penny. But the risk paid off, as it's also the director's highest-grossing movie ever, making more than $420 million worldwide.

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