Quentin Tarantino wants Bruce Willis to star in his final movie despite dementia diagnosis

Quentin Tarantino reportedly wants Bruce Willis to feature in his final movie, titled The Movie Critic.

The Academy Award winner has previously suggested that his 10th movie (if you count Kill Bill as one whole movie) will be his last before he moves on to writing more novels.

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In March of 2023, it was announced that his final production would be focused on a movie critic living and working in the 1970s. He has subsequently said that the critic "used to write reviews for a porno rag."

According to a report from The Express, Tarantino wants his Pulp Fiction star to play a small role in his 10th movie if his health will allow, as in 2022 Willis was diagnosed with aphasia and then frontotemporal dementia which can impact speech, behaviour and memory.

“Quentin hasn’t approached Bruce’s family yet – and will completely bow to their wishes if they say he’s too sick,” a production source told the newspaper.

“If that’s the case, he aims to try to work a brief clip from one of Bruce’s many previous movies into the film. His final few films all went straight to video or streaming because of his condition.

“Quentin wants to pay tribute to him with a quick glimpse for his legion of fans back on the big screen where he belongs."

Who could play Tarantino's leading man?

Tarantino will be looking closely at which actors out there could potentially take on the role, but he has narrowed down the search by saying that it will be someone he has never worked with before, which rules out the likes of Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and Michael Fassbender.

"I haven’t decided yet but it’s going to be somebody in the 35-year-old ball park. It’ll definitely be a new leading man for me," he continued.

 "I do have an idea of somebody I can imagine doing it really well."

When asked if he would consider a British star for the role, he replied:  "No. The truth of the matter is, yes, obviously, a Brit could pull it off, but I don’t want to cast a Brit."