Director and auteur Quentin Tarantino has said he is open to his next film being the long-rumored Kill Bill 3. The Oscar-winning director has helmed iconic movies in a career spanning three decades, starting with the 1992 indie hit Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino’s unique style of long-form, experimental narratives have gained a huge following, while his penchant for extreme violence and blood has also gained him a level of infamy. The director’s most recent film, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, saw a reimagined version of 1960s Hollywood and the historic Manson murders, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
One of Tarantino’s most iconic projects was Kill Bill, the two-part martial arts revenge film starring frequent collaborator Uma Thurman as Beatrix Kiddo aka The Bride. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 released in 2003 and took audiences by storm with its iconic imagery, hyper-stylised violence and the director’s trademark pastiche of cinema techniques and genres. The concluding segment, Kill Bill: Vol. 2, followed a year later and saw Thurman’s Bride finally come face to face with her estranged lover and long-time nemesis, Bill (David Carradine). While Kill Bill 2 tied a neat bow on the story, the massive success of Tarantino’s part-Samurai, part-Western revenge tale led to years of speculation about whether Thurman's Bride would return for Kill Bill 3.
As reported by Variety, Tarantino was asked whether his 10th film could be the long-awaited Kill Bill 3 at the recent Rome Film Festival. The auteur has previously said many times that he only ever planned to make 10 films in total, and so many fans have wondered whether the third Kill Bill installment would ever become a reality. In a tantalisingly brief response to the question, the director responded with a simple “Why not?” before going on to say that he also has plans to make a comedy Western movie.
Tarantino's openness to the idea of Kill Bill 3 will no doubt be welcome news to many fans, especially considering his previous statements, in which he had once called the film "unlikely." Tarantino was in Rome to receive a lifetime achievement award when he made his most recent comments. However, in his on-stage interview with Rome Film Festival Chief Antonio Monda, the auteur explained his plans to focus on his comedy film idea next, which Tarantino says will be a Spaghetti Western-sendup.
While Tarantino has previously said that his 10th film will be his last, nothing is set in stone. The director’s classification of Kill Bill 1 and 2 as one single film leaves some wiggle-room for further movie projects, and Kill Bill 3 would likely also fall into the same loophole. Kill Bill aside, Tarantino has never made a direct sequel to one of his films, despite many recurring characters and brands spotted throughout. However, his recent new venture into writing books, as well as his plans for comedy, imply that Tarantino is still open to new challenges.
Fans of the director have long theorised how The Bride could be brought back into action in Kill Bill 3. Last seen with her young daughter with peaceful retirement in sight, many believe the answer to a sequel lies in Volume 1. The Bride notably left a living witness behind when she killed Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox): her daughter Nikki. Kill Bill 3 could see Nikki all grown up and looking avenge her mother in a battle against Thurman’s Kiddo. For now, whether Tarantino will get around to making Kill Bill 3 remains to be seen, but the director certainly looks to have many more tricks up his sleeve for projects to come.
Source: Variety