Updates: Ennio Morricone Denies Calling Quentin Tarantino's Movies "Trash"

Update: Legendary composer Ennio Morricone has denied making disparaging comments about director Quentin Tarantino. In fact, according to Variety, Morricone denies doing an interview with Playboy Germany.

In a statement released on his website on Sunday (November 12th) Morricone said:

I have never expressed any negative statements about the Academy, Quentin, or his films — and certainly do not consider his films garbage. I have given a mandate to my lawyer in Italy to take civil and penal action.

I consider Tarantino a great director. I am very fond of my collaboration with him and the relationship we have developed during the time we have spent together. He is courageous and has an enormous personality. I credit our collaboration responsible for getting me an Oscar, which is for sure one of the greatest acknowledgments of my career, and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to compose music for his film.

In London, during a press conference in front of Tarantino, I clearly stated that I consider Quentin one of the greatest directors of this time, and I would never speak poorly of the Academy – an important institution that has given to me two of the most important acknowledgments of my career.

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"He just steals from others and puts it together again"

A new interview with legendary composer Ennio Morricone leaves little to question in terms of his relationship (or lack thereof) with director Quentin Tarantino.

Published in an upcoming issue of Playboy Germany, the spaghetti western maestro tears into Tarantino, referring to him as a "cretin," who "just steals from others and puts it together again." Having worked together on Tarantino's last film, The Hateful Eight, Morricone not only notes the director's problematic ethos towards film, but also unreasonable expectations of availability and production, claiming Tarantino "calls out of nowhere and then wants to have a finished film score within days. Which is impossible."

At 90 years old, the composer has helmed more than 500 scores for films dating back to 1946, including iconic suites for A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and The Untouchables, working with pioneers Sergio Leone and Giuseppe Tornatore. He makes a clear distinction between Tarantino and "Hollywood greats," such as John Huston, Alfred Hitchcock, and, Billy Wilder, referring to Tarantino's films as "trash" that are "just cooking up old stuff."

How this affects Tarantino's upcoming picture, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, remains to be seen. But it does seem safe to assume that Morricone will have no part in it.