Quentin Tarantino’s rarely-seen, single-film version of his martial arts revenge saga, Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair, is set to be released nationwide in theaters for the first time on Dec. 5, 2025, distributor Lionsgate announced.

The unified epic, which combines Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Volume 2 into one unrated film, will include a new, never-before-seen 7 1/2-minute animated sequence. This special presentation removes the cliffhanger ending from the first volume and the recap that opened the second.

Tarantino, who wrote and directed the film, emphasized the importance of seeing the combined work on the big screen.

“I wrote and directed it as one movie—and I’m so glad to give the fans the chance to see it as one movie,” Tarantino said. “The best way to see Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair is at a movie theater in Glorious 70mm or 35mm. Blood and guts on a big screen in all its glory!”

Select presentations of the film are anticipated to screen in 70mm and 35mm in all major markets.

The film stars Uma Thurman as The Bride, who awakens from a coma four years after her former boss and lover, Bill, ambushes her wedding rehearsal, shoots her in the head, and steals her unborn child. The story follows her quest to hunt down Bill and the four remaining members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.

Lionsgate, which manages library distribution rights for a large portfolio of Tarantino films, will handle the release. The studio’s Tarantino collection also includes Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and Death Proof.

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair also stars Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu, Michael Parks, and David Carradine as Bill. The film is produced by Lawrence Bender.

Even Quentin Tarantino has a favorite Quentin Tarantino movie. During a two-hour appearance on the Church of Tarantino—a podcast dedicated entirely to discussing the acclaimed filmmaker’s work—Tarantino named a trio of his films that he believes are especially great.

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my favorite, Inglourious Basterds is my best,” Tarantino said of his filmography. “But I think Kill Bill is the ultimate Quentin movie, like nobody else could’ve made it. Every aspect [of] it is so particularly ripped, like with tentacles and bloody tissue, from my imagination and my id and my loves and my passion and my obsession.”He continued, “I think Kill Bill is the movie I was born to make, I think Inglourious Basterds is my masterpiece, but Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my favorite.”

As Collider points, Tarantino has won only two Academy Awards over his three-decade career—both of which were Original Screenplay awards for Django Unchained and Pulp Fiction. Interestingly, he ranks neither as his best script.

“I think Inglourious Basterds is my best script, and I think Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time In Hollywood are right behind,” Tarantino revealed. “But there’s an aspect of Hateful Eight that I actually think is probably my best directing of my material, i.e., the material is written and it’s solid. So it’s not like I have to create it, like Kill Bill, it’s solid, it’s right there and I actually think it’s my best servicing [of] my material as a director.”

In the same episode, the auteur explained why he decided to let director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, The Social Network) helm The Adventures of Cliff Booth, his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel that sees Brad Pitt reprise his role as a veteran stuntman. “I love this script, but I’m still walking down the same ground I’ve already walked,” Tarantino revealed. “It just kind of unenthused me. This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory.”

That lack of vigor also led Tarantino to abandon making his script for The Movie Critic, which was billed as his final movie and had full backing from Sony Pictures. “I wasn’t really excited about dramatizing what I wrote when I was in pre-production,” Tarantino said. “There was nothing to figure out,” he added. “It was too much like the last one.”

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood fans can expect another riveting return to Hollywood’s golden age now that a sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 cinematic love letter is reportedly in the works. But this time, iconic director David Fincher will be helming the project, with Tarantino set to pen the screenplay, according to a report in The Playlist that was later confirmed by the Hollywood Reporter.  

While Tarantino—who wrote a novelization of his film in 2021—has famously stated his intention to retire after his tenth film, it seems he wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to the hazy, sun-drenched world of late-1960s Los Angeles and, more specifically, to one of its most beloved inhabitants: the cool-as-a-cucumber stuntman Cliff Booth, portrayed by the Oscar-winning Brad Pitt.

Pitt, a frequent collaborator of Fincher’s with classics like Se7en, Fight Club, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button under their belt, is expected to reprise his role. The new film will reportedly center around Cliff’s further adventures in the movie business and beyond. What exactly those adventures will entail remains under wraps, but reports suggest the script has evolved from Tarantino’s previously announced, and then seemingly scrapped, project The Movie Critic, which was also rumored to heavily feature Pitt in a similar vein.  

This marks a significant departure for Tarantino, who has always directed his own meticulously crafted, dialogue-centric screenplays. However, his apparent trust in Fincher’s vision, combined with his continued involvement as the writer, suggests a unique and potentially thrilling collaboration. It’s not unprecedented for Tarantino to hand over his writing to another director—think Tony Scott’s True Romance or Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn—but this is the first time he’s entrusted established characters from one of his own directorial efforts to another filmmaker.

It remains to be seen whether Leonardo DiCaprio will return as the charmingly insecure actor Rick Dalton, or if Margot Robbie will once again grace the screen as the tragically slain starlet Sharon Tate. While nothing has been confirmed regarding the rest of the cast, The Playlist‘s report indicates that DiCaprio’s involvement is currently unlikely, suggesting a stronger focus on Cliff’s solo journey. However, a surprise cameo can never be ruled out.

Adding another layer of intrigue to this already fascinating project is its reported destination: Netflix. Fincher has a strong relationship with the streaming giant, having directed projects like Mindhunter and The Killer for them. While Tarantino has historically been a staunch advocate for the theatrical experience, this move could signal a new chapter, especially with him handing over the directorial duties.

The timeline for this unexpected sequel is also moving at warp speed. Reports indicate that Netflix is aiming for a July start date for production in California, with a substantial budget reportedly in the $200 million range. This fast-tracking suggests a high level of enthusiasm from all parties involved, and a guaranteed streaming superhit if it gets made.

Quentin Tarantino is the latest celebrity to enter the world of NFTs with exclusive, previously unreleased content from his iconic 1994 movie Pulp Fiction.

“NFT” is an acronym for “Non-Fungible Token.” While most other cryptos like Bitcoin are mutually interchangeable, an NFT possesses a unique encrypted ID, making it irreplaceable.

But what Tarantino is selling on leading NFT marketplace OpenSea are “Secret NFTs.” While NFTs based on common blockchains like Etherium display metadata and images by default, the Secret Network’s Secret NFTs use their own unique blockchain, giving owners the power to keep their identities and NFT data private.

Seven uncut Pulp Fiction scenes will be paired with “first handwritten scripts of ‘Pulp Fiction’ and exclusive custom commentary from Tarantino, revealing secrets about the film and its creator,” according to a statement obtained by IndieWire.

Tarantino expanded on the content on stage at the NFT.NYC conference in New York City.

“For instance, the character that John Travolta plays, Vincent… he wasn’t Vincent originally,” the 58-year-old director said per CNET. “All the misspellings, all the weird doodles, all the weird notes to myself that are written in this thing, it’s all there.”

Because of Secret NFTs’ private nature, the owner of each will be able to choose whether or not to reveal the information contained in each to the world.

“When you get it, it’s yours,” Tarantino added at the conclusion of the brief appearance.

The first Pulp Fiction NFT is set to hit the block on OpenSea in the next month—click here to join the waiting list.

Quentin Tarantino, surely one the most important and beloved directors of his generation, says he’s keeping his long-stated promise to retire after his 10th and final movie. 

While plugging his new paperback novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on Real Time with Bill Maher on June 25, Tarantino confirmed that he’s planning to retire after making his tenth and final film, even as Maher urged him to keep making movies.

“You’re too young to quit and you’re at the top of your game,” Maher said.

“That’s why I want to quit,” Tarantino shot back over a cheering audience. “Because I know film history and from here on end, directors do not get better.”

Maher claimed that Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was the director’s “best” film to date–something that QT fanatics partial to the likes of Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds or Django Unchained may take issue with–but Hollywood earned rave reviews along with 10 Academy Award nominations and won a best picture Golden Globe.

“I don’t have a reason that I would want to say out loud that’s going to win any argument in the court of public opinion or supreme court or anything like that,” Tarantino responded. 

“At the same time, working for 30 years doing as many movies as I’ve done is not as many as other people but that’s a long career. That’s a really long career. And I’ve given it everything I have.”

Tarantino–who has previously toyed with directing a Star Wars movie, a James Bond movie, and other never-realized projects–also made news by saying that he considered remaking his 1992 feature debut, Reservoir Dogs, as his final film.

“I won’t do it, internet! But I considered it,” Tarantino laughed.

Watch the full interview segment here.

Banksy’s pop art reimagining of a scene from Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction has fetched over $160,000 at Tate Ward Auctions’ “By Collectors for Collectors” event. 

The famed piece depicts John Travolta’s Vincent Vega and Samuel L. Jackson’s Jules Winnfield with arms raised in the “divine intervention” scene, when the hitmen kill a man who had just aimed and emptied at revolver at them. Instead of pistols, the suit-clad characters clutch bananas. 

Hypebeast reports that Banksy’s Pulp Fiction first appeared in 2002 near London’s Old Street Tube station. It remained visible until 2007, when the Transport for London painted over the image. A local then spray-painted a message addressed to Banksy that read, “Come Back.” The famously elusive stencil graffiti artist responded by painting a different iteration of the piece, in which Vega and Winnfield are dressed in banana costumes and holding handguns. 

Pulp Fiction sold for £125,000, or about $166,509, alongside contemporary and urban works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Anish Kapoor Damien Hirst, Cy Twombly and others.  Visit Tate Ward Auctions’ website to see all of the lots. 

Ten years ago, director David Fincher and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin debuted The Social Network, the Oscar-winning movie that explored the rise of Mark Zuckerberg (nervily portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg) and the founding of Facebook. With its prescient themes and moody Trent Reznor soundtrack, The Social Network became an instant classic that no less a cinematic authority than Quentin Tarantino called “hands-down” the best movie of the 2010s. 

Now, the Hollywood Reporter notes that Sorkin may return to write a sequel to the classic 2010 movie, exploring the recent controversies surrounding the world’s biggest social platform.

In the intervening years, the real-life Facebook story has added twists to its story that few could have imagined back in 2010.

The social media company has been embroiled in a number of scandals, including being accused of allowing misinformation to spread on its platform in ways that have affected democracy at home and around the world.

Sorkin and producer Scott Rudin would like to see a Social Network sequel happen, the screenwriter told MTV’s Josh Horowitz on a recent episode of the Happy.Sad.Confused podcast.

“I do want to see it. And Scott wants to see it,” said Sorkin, who remains in contact with Fincher. “People have been talking to me about it. What we’ve discovered is the dark side of Facebook.”

THR has more details about the potential sequel’s plot:

In more recent times, Sorkin has taken an interest in Roger McNamee, an early Facebook investor who published the 2019 book Zucked, which was critical of the company.

Sorkin has met with McNamee, who raised red flags to Zuckerberg and Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg after noticing strange political activity on the platform.

“And Sandberg and Zuckerberg seem uninterested in doing anything about it,” Sorkin continued. “This all ends up with McNamee in a Senate basement secure conference room briefing Senate Intelligence subcommittee members on how Facebook is bringing down democracy. ‘We have a huge problem here and something needs to be done about it.'”

Sorkin said he would be down to write that version of a sequel to The Social Network, but under one condition. “I will only write it if David directs it.”

Listen to the full podcast here, where Sorkin opens up about his new movie Trial of the Chicago 7 and other topics. 

Unless you’re an authority on all things Quentin Tarantino, you may not know that Victor Vega, Michael Madsen’s “Mr. Blonde” in Reservoir Dogs, and John Travolta’s Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction, are actually brothers. 

Not only that, but The Hollywood Reporter notes that according to Madsen, Tarantino planned to make a movie focused on those characters at one point:

In 1994’s Pulp Fiction, John Travolta played Vincent Vega, a role that helped revitalize his career. The criminal brothers were shot to death in their respective films. Tarantino discussed the brothers project, which was to be a prequel, a number of times with the duo, Madsen told THR.

“We were supposed to be in Amsterdam, criminally,” says Madsen of Tarantino’s thoughts. “The picture was going to start out with the two of us being released from prison in different states. And we open up a club in Amsterdam.” In Pulp Fiction, Vincent Vega says he just returned to Los Angeles from Amsterdam.

Tarantino waited too long to do a prequel, though. Madsen and Travolta basically aged out of playing younger versions of themselves. That doesn’t mean the director gave up entirely on the idea, though.

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The director had an alternate idea in which “it would be the twin brothers of Vic and Vincent, who met after the deaths of their siblings,” Madsen tells THR. 

“It was very complicated, but when Quentin starts discussing an idea, it’s very easy to go along with it.”

Madsen and Travolta did finally star in a film together, the little-known 2019 racing movie Trading Paint. The former “Mr. Blonde” tells THR he “walked up to John and he goes, ‘I thought you were dead.’ And I looked over at him and I said, ‘Well, I thought you were dead.'” And… scene.  

A fan made the first video above of a Vega Brothers trailer using footage from Madsen’s and Travolta’s films. Sadly, it looks like the real thing just won’t happen, though, save in the imaginations and home editing software of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs superfans. 

Quentin Tarantino’s iconic cult classic Pulp Fiction is turning 25 this year. The beloved movie starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis was first released on October 14, 1994. To celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary, check out these 25 facts you probably didn’t know about Pulp Fiction.

1. The movie only cost $8.5 million to make, and raked in $9.3 million its opening weekend. 

2. Amanda Plummer’s “Honey Bunny” character was named after the pet rabbit of Linda Chen, who typed up Tarantino’s handwritten Pulp Fiction script. Chen asked Tarantino to watch her rabbit while she went on location in lieu of payment, but he refused. The rabbit died and QT named Amanda Plummer’s character after the dead rabbit.

3. Tarantino originally wanted to use “My Sharona” by The Knack in the Gimp scene, but another 1994 film Reality Bites was already using it. So, he went with The Revel’s “Comache.”

4. Tarantino was happy with his song choice, though. “It would have been too cutely comic,” he told Rolling Stone had he gone with “My Sharona.” “I like using stuff for comic effect, but I don’t want it to be har, har, wink, wink, nudge, nudge, you know?”

5. While filming Mia’s overdose scene, Uma Thurman revealed that Campbell’s mushroom soup was used to simulate the spittle in her mouth.

6. But while the spit was actually soup, everything else including the bountiful tears flowing from her eyes were real. “I worked myself up, acting,” she told Vanity Fair. “I don’t think we put anything in my eyes. You’re paid for something.” 

7. Pulp Fiction was first released in South Korea, Slovakia, and Japan before it was released in America.

8. Around 20 years after the film was released, a casting wish list that Tarantino allegedly wrote was leaked online. Apparently Gary Oldman was considered for all major roles, and Johnny Depp and Christian Slater were back-up choices for Pumpkin.

9. Uma Thurman wasn’t Tarantino’s first pick for Mia. Michelle Pfeiffer. Isabella Rossellini, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Meg Ryan, Alfre Woodard, Halle Berry, Daryl Hannah, Rosanna Arquette, and Joan Cusack were also all considered for the role — and Pfeiffer was supposedly his original favorite.

10. Tarantino was living in Travolta’s first apartment in Los Angeles when they first met.

11. The film contains the word “fuck” a grand total of 265 times. 

See below:

12. The film was the third biggest R-rated box office success of 1994, earning $107.93 million. 

13. Earning that $107.93 million took a while, though. The film had been released for 178 days before it hit the 100 million mark.

14. Vincent Vega’s 1964 Chevelle Malibu –which was actually owned by Tarantino in real life — was stolen after the film’s release. It was eventually found almost 20 years later.

15. Vincent Vega is the only character in the entire film to appear in all four vignettes that make up the movie.

16. The first poster for the film showed Thurman smoking from a box of Lucky Strike cigarettes, but Miramax hadn’t purchased the proper usage rights. Lucky Strike threatened to sue, so Miramax returned the posters. Any of those posters that are still out there today are each worth hundreds of dollars.

17. The role of Jules was essentially written for Samuel L. Jackson, as he was Tarantino’s first choice. But when actor Paul Calderon auditioned for the part Tarantino was so impressed that he almost hired him instead of Jackson. To change Tarantino’s mind, Jackson flew to L.A. and auditioned again. 

18. In the scene where Mia gets an adrenaline injection, Thurman doesn’t actually get stabbed with a needle. The needle was inserted and Travolta pulled it out, and the scene was reversed post-production so it only looks like she’s getting stabbed with a needle.

19. The biggest expense of the film was Jack Slim’s Diner Set, which cost $150,000 to create.

20. During the scenes when Tarantino is acting as Jimmie, Robert Rodriguez — who collaborated with Tarantino on From Dusk Till Dawn and Grindhouse — took over as director. 

21. Tarantino wrote the part of Butch as a young boxer with Matt Dillon in mind for the role. Dillon took too long considering the part, so it was changed to accommodate Bruce Willis. 

22. The part of Vincent Vega was actually written for Michael Madsen, but he dropped out two weeks before the script was completed to star in Wyatt Earp.

23. Vick Vega of Reservoir Dogs is Vincent Vega’s brother. Tarantino even considered creating a spinoff called Vega Brothers as a prequel to both films. 

24. The wrap party was held on set at Jack Rabbit Slim’s diner, and Travolta and Christopher Walken reportedly tore up the dance floor together. 

25. Each actor earned the same amount for their work, pocketing $20,000 per week. 

Quentin Tarantino is one filmmaker who understands the importance of getting his audience’s attention early. Who could ever forget “Pumpkin” and “Honey Bunny” from Pulp Fiction? Or the diner argument in Reservoir Dogs in which Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) explains why he doesn’t tip and Mr. Brown (Tarantino) pontificates on the true meaning behind the song “Like a Virgin.” Not to mention that classic nine-shot opening sequence from Jackie Brown. 

While all these opening scenes are certainly amazing, QT’s greatest opener to a may just come from his 2009 World War II epic, Inglourious Basterds, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this week, and drips with tension and intrigue from the very beginning.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ (2009)

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In an Idyllic French countryside, dairy farmer Perrier LaPadite (Denis Ménochet) chops at a stump when his daughter Julie (Lena Frierich) suddenly screams “Papa!” as a caravan carrying Nazi soldiers and SS Colonel Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) approaches. Landa, also known by the moniker the “Jew Hunter,” is invited into LaPadite’s cottage and casually interrogates the Frenchman as his soldiers and three daughters wait outside.

LaPadite, in order to protect his family, finally concedes that he is harboring a local farming Jewish family in his floorboards. Landa then orders his Nazi soldiers to kill the family with machine guns.

This scene is so utterly effective for many reasons. For one, you can feel the absolute pure evil dripping from Landa. By definition, a Nazi is evil. However, Tarantino makes Landa come across as the most evil of the evil. It’s almost as if LaPadite is dealing with the devil himself.

Secondly, Tarantino waits close to twelve minutes to reveal that there is indeed a local Jewish family lying beneath the floorboards. He allows the tension to build and then increases the stakes that much more with this revelation. Not only is the Jewish family in grave danger, but that also means Monsieur LaPadite and his three daughters are as well.

Finally, once it is revealed that Landa knows the family is hiding beneath him, the SS Colonel maintains his composure as he then has them massacred.

However, one member escapes. Shoshanna Dreyfus runs away across the French countryside. Her escape is a great piece of foreshadowing for what will ultimately happen later in the story.

In fact, the opening in Inglourious Basterds is so good, that it is not only Tarantino’s best opening, but one of the greatest opening scenes in the history of film.

In addition to the rising tension, so many components are there in the opening that make a good story. Good vs. evil, intrigue, mystery and tragedy.

Having said that to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Basterds release on August 21, 2009,  here are 10 more of some of the greatest opening scenes in film history:

‘Jaws’ (1976)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-3q0DOXb74

Much like Tarantino, Steven Spielberg is an absolute master of captivating his audience from the start. For Saving Private Ryan, he adeptly recreated one of the most famous battles in history. The first scene of Jurassic Park was enthralling because it demonstrated the sheer destructive power of a Velociraptor. The opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark is so good, it really needs no explanation.

The iconic scene from Jaws, however, is probably the most famous movie opening courtesy of Spielberg.

In addition to John Williams’ score racheting up the anxiety, the first-person POV of the shark, a common trope utilized in slasher films, made the scene that much more terrifying and memorable.

It also had a massive societal impact as it made an entire generation fearful of even going into the neighborhood swimming pool.

‘Dazed and Confused’ (1993)

Richard Linklater’s homage to his own high school days grabs your attention immediately with the slow motion shot of Kevin Pickford’s (Shawn Andrews) 1970 Pontiac GTO cruising through the parking lot while his girlfriend Michelle (Milla Jovovich) roles a joint which is underscored by Aerosmith’s “Sweet Emotion.”

This is just the first reference to smoking pot within the barely minute and a half intro. “Slater” (Rory Cochrane) also smokes a joint with some friends while wearing a giant pot leaf t-shirt and Pickford and Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason London) share an elaborate high five while mimicking joint puffs.

As a result, you get a pretty good idea of what one of the major themes of the film is. The opening credit sequence from Dazed and Confused also does an excellent job of introducing all the main characters quickly in a very fun way a la Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

‘Trainspotting’ (1996)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Naf_WiEb9Qs

Like Dazed and Confused, Trainspotting is a textbook case of the usage of popular music to set a film’s tone. We see Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) and Daniel “Spud” Murphy (Ewen Bremmer) fleeing the police in a full sprint and we hear Iggy Pop’s “Lust for Life.”

Then, once again, we are given introductions to all the main players in the film. It is a motley crew as we also meet Tommy (Kevin McKidd), “Sick Boy” (Jonny Lee Miller) and Begbie (Robert Carlyle) while the boys are playing and overmatched in a local soccer contest.

All the while Renton’s famous “Choose Life” speech overlays the scene.

‘Goodfellas’ (1990)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6t5awMTGqog

A car meanders down a lonely road as we see a title card that reads, “New York, 1970.”

We go inside the car to meet the main players. There’s Henry Hill (Ray Liota) who drives, Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) sits shotgun while trying to get some shut eye and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) sits quietly in back.

The crew is bothered by a thumping coming somewhere from the car. Did they hit an animal? ls it a flat tire?

Henry pulls the car over as director Martin Scorsese slowly pans in before revealing a bloody body that’s still alive in the trunk. Without hesitation, Tommy repeatedly stabs the man while Jimmy puts four bullets into the body.

These are definitely violent people we’re dealing with here. Henry is established as the main character with this line “As far back as I could remember, I always wanted to be a gangster,” before the credits start to roll.

The Player (1992)

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The Player’s impressive intro is a continuous tracking shot that takes place across a studio lot lasting over eight minutes and the audience gets plenty of nods to Hollywood. One of which is the ubiquity of pitches on a lot during that era: “Not unlike Ghost meets The Manchurian Candidate.”

Robert Altman also slyly closes in on the front of a post card which reads “your dead” while we hear various conversations from a large cross-section of the studio’s employees. In the midst of these conversations we hear a very pertinent plot point. Griffin Dunne’s (Tim Robbins) job may be in peril.

The “your dead” post card eventually ends up in the hands of Dunne as the back of it reads: “I HATE YOUR GUTS ASSHOLE!” Not only might Griffin lose his job. His life also might even be in danger.

‘The Shining’ (1980)

The intro to the Stanley Kubrick directed and adaptation of Stephen King’s novel is so simple, and yet, so memorable.

Like Jaws, the opening music and score are as important to setting the tone of the film as the actual footage.

The foreboding score and music put together by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind set up an absolute feeling of dread, isolation and insignificance as Jack Torrance winds through the Rocky Mountains along with his family in their tiny yellow Volkswagen Bug on their way to the Overlook Hotel.

‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)

Another beautifully shot opening with the perfect song. Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) is shown waking up at dusk and riding his bicycle down through Carpathian Ridge on his way home. All the while, Echo and the Bunnymen’s “The Killing Moon” sets the perfect mood in the background.

The song is mysterious, beautiful and hopeful, much like the movie itself, and gives this feel to the suburbs once Donnie makes it back in town.

Once into town, writer and director Richard Kelly does some nice foreshadowing letting the audience know that it is right before Halloween. Donnie also passes by a red Trans Am (important plot point later in the story) while Donnie’s mother reads Stephen King’s It as he wanders into the house.

‘The Social Network’ (2010)

Aaron Sorkin’s rapid fire dialogue reveals so much about Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) in the opening of The Social Network.

Zuckerberg has an inferiority complex despite getting a perfect score on his SAT. He obsesses over being accepted to one of the elitist Harvard final clubs. He browbeats his girlfriend for asking innocuous questions and thinks the reason Teddy Roosevelt became President is because he was once a member of the Porcellian Club.

He later insinuates that they got into the bar because he incorrectly assumes that his girlfriend slept with the door guy and insults her for attending Boston University.

In the first five minutes the audience gets a pretty definitive snapshot of the character of the film’s protagonist.

‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979)

The first scene of Apocalypse Now illustrates the sheer destruction of war both from a planetary and a humanitarian perspective. The audience hears the whirring of a helicopter as background din as the camera shows the desecration of what seems to be an entire forest.

Captain Benjamin Willard’s (Martin Sheen) face is superimposed, but upside down, over the devastation while Jim Morrison sings “This is the end my only friend. The End.” This is a reality where any kind of normalcy doesn’t apply.

Willard mirrors the insanity of Vietnam by drinking heavily and inexplicably doing some sort of Tai Chi in his hotel room. We hear his thoughts through voice over as he makes statements like: “Every minute I stay in this room I get weaker. And, every minute Charlie squats in the bush he gets stronger.”

Scream (1996)

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A title card reading SCREAM turns from white to blood red as we hear the telephone ring.

The opening vacillates between mildly scary and fun and flirty as a cute young girl, Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), tells the unknown caller that she’s making popcorn and is going to watch a scary movie.

She gets drawn into the conversation little by little until the caller asks her name and states the reason for this as, “I want to know who I’m looking at.” The scene further escalates as her stalker eventually declares “You hang up on me I’ll gut you like a fish! Understand?”

The scene gets more and more terrifying as the harasser continues to play cat and mouse games until she and her boyfriend are both killed by a stealthy mysteriously masked murderer–in the most spectacular of fashions.