Quentin Tarantino Takes a Dig at Ryan Reynolds’ Netflix Movies: “I’ve Never Seen Them. Have You?”

Like Christopher Nolan before him, director Quentin Tarantino is no fan of movies that are made to exist on streaming platforms. In a conversation with Deadline, Tarantino criticized films that are made for streamers, saying, “It’s almost like they don’t even exist.”

Tarantino began the conversation by lauding Sony’s commitment to financing theatrical films, saying he plans to make his next (and possibly final) movie with them.

“I’m probably going to be doing the movie with Sony because they’re the last game in town that is just absolutely, utterly, committed to the theatrical experience,” Tarantino said. “It’s not about feeding their streaming network. They are committed to theatrical experience. They judge success by asses on seats. And they judge success by the movies entering the zeitgeist, not just making a big expensive movie and then putting it on your streaming platform. No one even knows it’s there.”

As an example, Tarantino then took aim at Ryan Reynolds‘ slate of films made for Netflix, saying that despite the money those films have made, they’re not memorable film-going experiences.

“I mean, and I’m not picking on anybody, but apparently for Netflix, Ryan Reynolds has made $50 million on this movie and $50 million on that movie and $50 million on the next movie for them. I don’t know what any of those movies are. I’ve never seen them. Have you?” Tarantino asked, before continuing, “Well, good for him that he’s making so much money, but those movies don’t exist in the zeitgeist. It’s almost like they don’t even exist.”

Back in 2020, Reynolds signed a four-year deal with Netflix to create a multitude of projects, including 6 Underground, The Adam Project and Red Notice, and all three are currently in Netflix’s most-streamed of all time based on minutes watched, with Red Notice taking the top spot.

Tarantino explained to Deadline that streaming is, in part, why he’s stepping back from filmmaking.

“It’s just time. It’s just time to go out. I like the idea of going out on top. I like the idea of giving it my all for 30 years and then saying, ‘OK, that’s enough.’ And I don’t like working to diminishing returns,” he said. “And I mean, now is a good time because I mean, what even is a motion picture anyway anymore? Is it just something that they show on Apple? That would be diminishing returns.”

While we generally love Tarantino’s movies and understand his point, perhaps not everything is meant to make an indelible, permanent mark on the zeitgeist. Certain things, no matter how fleeting, can still have value, like a child’s chalk drawings, cloud formations or MTV News.