Cult film director Quentin Tarantino said on Wednesday he has finished the script for what will be his "last" movie.

The US director of hit films including "Kill Bill", "Inglourious Basterds" and "Pulp Fiction" said he expected shooting to start on his 10th film later in the year.

"I have finished the script of what will end up being my last movie," the 60-year-old said while being questioned by Thierry Fremaux, director of the Cannes Film Festival, at the launch of his new book in Paris.

"I imagine we'll probably shoot it I guess in the fall," Tarantino said.

Tarantino has repeatedly said that he wants to retire after 10 films -- counting the two lengthy episodes of "Kill Bill" as one.

The film, which will be called "The Movie Critic", will be set in 1977, he added.

He denied rumours that it was a biopic of Pauline Kael -- the New Yorker film critic who died in 2001 -- and said it was not devoted to any specific film critic.

Tarantino's directorial debut came with "Reservoir Dogs" in 1992, a low-budget, brutal crime caper that became a cult smash and turned him into one of the industry's most influential filmmakers.