If you ask Quentin Tarantino himself how many movies he’s made, he’ll give you a very specific, almost religious number. He says nine. He’s obsessed with the "perfect 10" filmography, a curated legacy he wants to leave behind before he retires to write books or plays. But honestly? If you actually count the projects he’s directed, the math gets messy fast. Depending on how you define a "movie," the answer could be nine, ten, or even a dozen.
It’s one of those things that keeps film nerds arguing in bar booths until 2 a.m. Does a segment in an anthology count? Does a four-hour epic split into two volumes count as one or two? And what about the early, unfinished stuff that barely exists?
How Many Movies Has Quentin Tarantino Made? The Official List
To understand the confusion, we have to look at what Tarantino considers "The Canon." These are the feature films he wrote and directed from start to finish. In his mind, he has directed nine movies.
- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
- Pulp Fiction (1994)
- Jackie Brown (1997)
- Kill Bill (2003/2004)
- Death Proof (2007)
- Inglourious Basterds (2009)
- Django Unchained (2012)
- The Hateful Eight (2015)
- Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
Wait. If you’re looking at that list and checking your watch, you’ve probably noticed the obvious math error. Kill Bill Vol. 1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 were released six months apart. They have separate tickets, separate Blu-rays, and separate credits. But Tarantino is stubborn. He insists they are one single movie. Since they were filmed as one giant production and tell one continuous story, he counts them as "Movie Number 4."
Then there’s Death Proof. It originally came out as half of the Grindhouse double feature with Robert Rodriguez. Later, it was released as its own standalone film. Tarantino counts it as his fifth movie. If you’re a literalist who counts every time you paid for a movie ticket, you’d say he’s already made ten. But in the world of Quentin, we’re still waiting on that elusive tenth and final masterpiece.
The "Kill Bill" Debate: One Movie or Two?
This is the hill most fans are willing to die on. You can’t just walk into a theater in 2003, watch Uma Thurman slice through the Crazy 88, go home, and say you finished the movie. You had to wait until 2004 to see her finally confront Bill.
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Logically, that’s two movies.
However, Tarantino has since released Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, a four-plus-hour cut that combines both volumes into one seamless experience. It even changes some scenes—like the House of Blue Leaves fight being in full color instead of black and white. If you view the project through the lens of The Whole Bloody Affair, the "it's one movie" argument starts to feel a lot more legitimate.
The Hidden Credits: What Doesn't Count (According to QT)
If we only look at the official list, we’re ignoring a huge chunk of his work. Tarantino has directed several things that he conveniently leaves out of his 10-film countdown.
Four Rooms (1995)
He directed the final segment, "The Man from Hollywood." It’s basically a long, dialogue-heavy scene based on a Roald Dahl story. Since he only directed one-quarter of the movie, he doesn't count it as a "Tarantino Film."
Sin City (2005)
Ever wonder why that scene where Clive Owen drives a talking Benicio del Toro feels so... Tarantino? That’s because it is. He was a "special guest director" for that one scene. Again, it’s not on the official tally.
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My Best Friend’s Birthday (1987)
This was his actual first movie. It was an amateur black-and-white film he made while working at a video store. Most of the footage was destroyed in a lab fire, but about 36 minutes of it survived. He calls it his "film school," not a professional entry.
ER and CSI
He directed a famous double episode of CSI ("Grave Danger") and an episode of ER. Obviously, these are TV, so they don't count toward the movie total, but they carry his signature style—specifically the claustrophobic tension of being buried alive.
Written but Not Directed
To make things even more confusing for casual fans, there are several movies that feel like Tarantino movies because he wrote them, but he didn't direct them.
- True Romance (1993) – Directed by Tony Scott.
- Natural Born Killers (1994) – Directed by Oliver Stone (though Stone changed the script so much QT eventually disowned it).
- From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) – Directed by Robert Rodriguez.
There is even a new development as of 2026: The Adventures of Cliff Booth. While Tarantino wrote the screenplay as a sequel/spin-off to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, David Fincher stepped in to direct it. Since Tarantino isn't behind the camera, this doesn't count as his "Tenth Film" either.
Why the Number 10 Matters So Much
Tarantino is a student of film history. He’s seen too many directors stay at the party too long. He often talks about how directors get "out of touch" as they age, and their last three movies are usually their worst. By capping his career at ten, he’s trying to ensure his filmography is "all killer, no filler."
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He wants his collection to be like a pristine box set where every disc is a classic.
But this self-imposed limit has created a lot of pressure. He recently scrapped a project called The Movie Critic because he didn't feel it was "the one" to end on. As of right now, the world is still waiting to see what that final, official tenth movie will be. Some think he’ll return to Kill Bill Vol. 3, while others hope for an original Western or a hard-boiled detective story.
Actionable Insights for Fans
If you're trying to navigate the "Tarantino-verse" or just want to win a trivia night, here’s how to handle the "how many movies" question:
- If you're talking to a casual fan: Say he’s made 10 movies (counting Kill Bill as two).
- If you're talking to a cinephile: Say he’s made 9 movies, because he considers Kill Bill a single work.
- If you want to be a completionist: You need to watch 13 "features" (including the ones he wrote but didn't direct, plus Four Rooms).
- The "Whole Bloody Affair" hack: If you can find a copy of the combined Kill Bill cut, watch that instead of the separate volumes. It’s the way it was meant to be seen.
Keep an eye on the trades for news regarding his final project. With The Adventures of Cliff Booth now in the hands of David Fincher, Tarantino’s own directorial slot for "Number 10" is still wide open. Don't be surprised if he takes another two or three years to get it right. He’s not in a rush; he’s building a monument.