Epic Games joined forces with Hollywood legends Quentin Tarantino and Uma Thurman to bring us a Fortnite collaboration unlike anything the battle-royale has seen so far.
We attended an exclusive screening of Kill Bill: Yuki’s Revenge, a lost chapter of Tarantino’s fourth film finally realised through Fortnite and Unreal Engine 5. Following the screening both stars took to the stage to talk about what it was like nurturing this partnership with Epic Games, and seeing the legendary film series be expanded through Fortnite of all things.
“They got together with me to talk about some situation where my characters and Fortnite could do something kind of groovy,” said Tarantino.
The filmmaker described the initial pitch meeting that took place, saying he initially believed the studio just wanted to use his characters’ likeness for cosmetic skins, before the actual plan unfolded. “They had something else in mind.
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“They said that when they launch their new season every year, they always have a huge event, and so far that event has always been about music things. But since the majority of the game this year is gonna take place in California, particularly Hollywood, they thought it could be cool if we had a movie event to launch the thing.”
Tarantino recalled the Epic Games representatives almost coyly asking if there was anything he could provide, which is where Kill Bill’s lost chapter comes into the picture…
“In the original first draft of Kill Bill,” Tarantino began, “ there was an entire chapter that we never even made the second draft of, it was called Yuki's Revenge, and in that chapter Gogo had a twin sister who had the sniffles the night of the House Of Blue Leaves so she left early.”
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Tarantino explained that while all of this does canonically occur in the story of Kill Bill, it’s not something the audience sees as it would have involved another lengthy action scene that just wouldn’t fit in the filming budget/schedule. Tarantino also explained he was looking out for Uma Thurman, who was being put through her physical paces during filming so for health and safety reasons an additional action piece just wasn’t viable.
However Gogo’s crazy sister Yuki is still canon within the story, and for over 20 years this forgotten chapter has, in Tarantino’s words, “just been sitting there.”
Later in the presentation both Tarantino and Uma Thurman spoke about what it was like to partner with Epic Games and bring this new chapter to life through Fortnite. Tarantino directed the performance and Thurman provided her voice and facial capture to animate The Bride through Unreal Engine 5, with Rem Ami doing the same for Yuki.
When talking about the performance Thurman said it was “so cool” to do, and how great it was to bring “a new audience to the movie.”
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“It's so creative,” continued Thurman, “I love seeing [Quentin] going into all the different formats, and [Kill BIll] has anime in it, and that's always been like a passion for Quentin, so I think getting to be able to do anything where there don't even have to be people is a good thing.”
From Tarantino’s perspective it was both an interesting and emotional opportunity, and he praised the team at Epic Games for their help in seeing his vision become a reality.
“These guys really know what they're doing, so if I give them the right material with my guidance, if I put it in their hands, it's going to be really good … but also I get to do my Yuki's Revenge…”
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Tarantino said it’d be “different story” if Epic Games simply wanted to use his characters’ likeness for skins or some other animated tale set in one of his many worlds. “This is a lost chapter that I've always wanted to see the light of day and now it has,” the director said.
One final question posed to Tarantino was whether or not he’d be up for seeing more projects like this in the future. This collaboration was completely unexpected and it arguably brought some credibility to the idea of video games like Fortnite being a gateway into otherwise lost media.
On the topic Tarantino said he could “see some world between [the collaboration] and Japanese anime.” Speaking about what it does for actors, the director described the process as “a cool fusion of the soul” that allows an actor to deliver a masterful performance without all the physicality that comes with filmmaking.
Uma Thurman added to this implying the experience was oddly liberating, saying “it's just nice to rely purely on your creative acting … you don't need the room, you don't need the outfit. You've got your director, good dialogue, great people, and it’s just pure, pure work.”
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Fortnite players can catch Kill Bill’s lost chapter, Yuki’s Revenge, as part of Fortnite’s end-of-chapter event.
Topics: Fortnite, Epic Games, TV And Film, Preview