While Quentin Tarantino may be a poster child for the hardcore film-lovers–what with his rejection of digital filming and projecting, and the upcoming roadshow for his latest movie, “The Hateful Eight.”–the writer/director still has a solid appreciation for the medium of television. In fact, the filmmaker was originally planning on turning his sixth film, “Inglourious Basterds” into a mini-series before French director/producer Luc Besson convinced him otherwise (via “The Director’s Chair”). With that in mind, it’s not a huge surprise that Tarantino may be making the jump to the small screen for his next project.

Speaking with Premiere Magazine (and translated by Birth.Movies.Death), the writer/director opened up about what he’s thinking about tackling next.

“It always takes me a while before thinking about the future. That said, I own the rights to this book [I’ve] wanted to adapt for a while, and the time may have come for me to tackle [it]. This is ‘Forty Lashes Less One,’ [written by] Elmore Leonard…which could be my third western. [I’m] considering [taking the] project to TV, in the form of a mini-series of four or six hours.”

Elmore Leonard, for those unfamiliar, was a prolific and renowned novelist best known for his westerns and his crime fiction. Some of his stories include “Get Shorty,” “Be Cool,” “Three-Ten to Yuma,” and “Out of Sight.” Tarantino is no stranger to Leonard’s work–the filmmaker has always cited the novelist as one of his biggest influences–and in fact, Tarantino even adapted Leonard’s novel “Rum Punch” into the 1997 blaxploitation homage, “Jackie Brown.”

This seems like a natural progression for Tarantino’s career. Not only has the man talked about doing a TV mini-series for a while, but he’s also repeatedly mentioned his desire to call himself a western director, and in order to do that–according to his own logic–he’d have to direct at least one more project. The first was “Django Unchained,” and the second is the upcoming “Hateful Eight.” Could “Forty Lashes Less One” complete this western trilogy for the ambitious director?

“I do feel that I need to do at least one more Western — I think you need to make three Westerns to call yourself a Western director.”

How do you feel about Tarantino possibly heading to TV for his next project? Do you prefer to see his work on the big screen? Even more than that, are you content to see him crank out one western after another, or would you like to see him hop into a different genre for his next one? Let us know all your thoughts down below!

“Hateful Eight” hits theaters in 70mm on December 25, 2015.

SOURCE: Premiere Magazine, Birth.Movies.Death., Vulture