'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood' Might Become A Quentin Tarantino Novel

Quentin Tarantino might not be quite done with “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” just yet.

The director revealed on the podcast “Pure Cinema,” as reported by Entertainment Weekly, that he is seriously considering adapting the 2019 film into a novel.

“I hadn't thought about that until recently," he said. "But now I'm thinking a lot about it. I might be writing a novelization to ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.’”

Tarantino later explained his love for literary adaptations of film and compared old-school movie adaptations to the ones done in modern times. “There is this aspect that the literary adaptations done in the 30s and 40s out of Hollywood were more entertaining,” he said.

Though, as it turns out, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was almost never a movie at all. Tarantino revealed to Esquire in May 2019 that he spent five years originally writing the story as a book.

“I let it become what it wanted to become,” he said. “For a long time, I didn’t want to accept it. Then I did.”

But it looks like Tarantino might consider revoking his initial statement by returning to his original vision for the project that he previously said he considers to be his “most personal.”

“I think of it like my memory piece. Alfonso [Cuarón] had 'Roma' and Mexico City, 1970. I had L.A. and 1969,” he said. “This is me. This is the year that formed me. I was 6 years old then. This is my world. And this is my love letter to L.A.”

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is based on the lives of fictional 1950s Western actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), his relationship with his friend and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), and late, real-life actress Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie).

The film is Tarantino’s second most successful film at the box office to date, grossing $142 million in the U.S. and $374 million worldwide.