The Adventures of Cliff Booth

Development and casting

David Fincher and Brad Pitt

In July 2021, when asked about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) character Cliff Booth's time during World War II, Quentin Tarantino stated, "Someday I'll do his adventure in the POW camp".^[7] In March 2023, Tarantino revealed that he had completed a screenplay titled The Movie Critic, centered on a film reviewer who wrote for the fictional pornographic magazine The Popstar Pages in 1977 California.^[8] By April 2024, multiple reports indicated that the project had evolved into a continuation of the Cliff Booth character following the events Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, with Brad Pitt expected to reprise the role, before the film was ultimately canceled.^[9][10] However, in an August 2025 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Tarantino contradicted those reports, stating that The Movie Critic "would have been a spiritual successor to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but there were no crossover characters. Cliff Booth was never in The Movie Critic."^[11] Tarantino later explained: "I'm one of the producers on the movie and everything. But look, I'm moving back and forth between here and Israel, so I won't be on the set every day and everything...I'll be around if they need me to do something."^[1]

In April 2025, David Fincher was reported to have been hired to direct a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood written by Tarantino, with Netflix having acquired the script and Brad Pitt reprising his role as Cliff Booth while Leonardo DiCaprio was reportedly in talks to reprise his role as Rick Dalton in a cameo appearance.^[12][13] In March 2026, Brad Pitt was reportedly paid $40 million to star in and produce the film, while writer and producer Quentin Tarantino was paid more than $20 million for a one-picture license to his screenplay, while retaining ownership of the underlying work.^[14] DiCaprio ultimately turned down the cameo appearance, stating, "there were some talks about it early on. Ultimately, I cannot wait to see the Cliff Booth story, but I'm not in it. I think David Fincher's the perfect man for the job… there's nobody better to carry on that lineage and tell that story."^[15][16][17] Pitt was instrumental in approaching Fincher to direct the film.^[18] It was reported by Deadline Hollywood later that same month that the film would be called The Continuing Adventures of Cliff Booth and would follow Booth as a Hollywood studio fixer.^[5] Tarantino later elaborated on his decision to not direct the film as his final project stating: "I love this script, but I'm still walking down the same ground I've already walked. 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".^[11]

In May 2025, Elizabeth Debicki and Scott Caan joined the cast.^[19][20] Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Carla Gugino and Holt McCallany joined the cast in June. By then the title was shortened to The Adventures of Cliff Booth.^[21][22][23] In July, JB Tadena, Corey Fogelmanis and Karren Karagulian joined the cast, while David Heyman, Ceán Chaffin and Stacey Sher were added as producers, alongside Tarantino and Pitt.^[3][24][25] In August, Timothy Olyphant was set to reprise his role as James Stacy from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.^[26] In the same month, Tarantino described the budget for the film as the largest he has ever been associated with, adding that the film is going to be "in the region of $200 million".^[1] In September 2025, Barry Livingston revealed he was a part of the cast.^[27] Lauren Glazier and Peter Weller were revealed to be a part of the cast in October 2025.^[28][29] It was later revealed that Pitt received $40 million to produce and star, while Fincher and Tarantino received $20 million each.^[30] In July 2026, Olyphant revealed during an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, that he appears "very briefly" in the film, with his scenes taking only a day and a half to film.^[31]

In June 2025, Pitt told Deadline, "This is something Quentin Tarantino wrote. It's an episode, not really a sequel, of the character from Once Upon a Time. He didn't want to direct it at this point, so our friend David Fincher stepped in."^[32] The same month, reports revealed that the film received a $20 million allocation from the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program. Initially listed as an untitled Netflix production, the project was identified as The Adventures of Cliff Booth. The production was expected to generate $105.9 million in qualified expenditures in California, with 110 filming days in the state, employing 128 cast members and 428 crew members.^[32]

In an August 2025 episode of the The Church of Tarantino Podcast, when asked about his role the production of The Adventures of Cliff Booth, Tarantino stated:

"But I mean, it's a little more like I've given David [Fincher] a gigantic novel written in screenplay form, and it's his job to attack it... No, I'm not like [some] Hollywood screenwriter that's like, 'Here you go. Here's your 120 pages. Shoot seven [pages] a day. You should be fine.' No, no, I'm giving [Fincher] an unwieldy thing, and I'm haven't tamed myself whatsoever. And it's his job to shrink it."

Filming

The Adventures of Cliff Booth was filmed in several locations in the Los Angeles area, including the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California, the Highland Theatre in Highland Park, Los Angeles, Long Beach, California, and Huntington Beach, California.

Principal photography began in late July 2025 in locations across southern California, ^[20][25][3] centered primarily in the Greater Los Angeles area including Long Beach, Huntington Beach, and the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, California.^[33][34] In a report by the Ventura County Star on October 2025, filming at the Ventura County Fairgrounds took place on October 15, 2025, and included the depiction of a demolition derby competition at the Ventura Raceway. A permit obtained through a public records request from the California Film Commission listed the production under the working title "UFP25" and stated that the shoot involved approximately 125 cast and crew members and 50 extras at the location.^[34] The scenes were later featured in the film's first teaser trailer, released in 2026.^[35] Set photographs showed a film slate bearing the name "Discokingpin." The project has also appeared in production listings under "Untitled Fincher Project 25" as well as "Disco Kingpin."

Pitt was also spotted filming scenes with Fogelmanis and Karagulian in 2025.^[36] By early September of that year, 1970s-style storefronts were recreated around the Highland Theatre in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park under the direction of production designer Donald Graham Burt.^[3] A poster for the 1977 comedy Which Way Is Up?, starring Richard Pryor, was also visible among the recreated storefronts.^[37] The same month, scenes were seen being filmed on location in Huntington Beach and Long Beach.^[38][33] On July 29, 2026, Pitt was photographed filming scenes in Los Angeles at a location converted into a movie theater.^[39]

Erik Messerschmidt, a longtime collaborator of Fincher's, served as the film's director of photography after previously working with him on Mank (2020) and Mindhunter.^[40] Principal photography wrapped on January 15, 2026.^[41] According to The Playlist, additional photography and reshoots with Pitt were scheduled for August 2026. The outlet reported that several large sets were rebuilt for the pickups and that Jeff Cronenweth, another frequent Fincher collaborator, replaced Messerschmidt for the additional photography due to the latter's commitment to The Batman: Part II.^[42]

Post-production

Kirk Baxter edited the film.^[40]

Marketing

On February 8, 2026, the first teaser trailer for The Adventures of Cliff Booth was released during Super Bowl LX, marking the first public footage released from the film and confirmed the film's official title.^[46] It featured Brad Pitt reprising his role as Cliff Booth from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, while introducing the film's 1970s setting and its continuation of the character's story.^[6] The approximately 60-second Super Bowl advertising segment, airing during the game's first quarter, featured music from Emerson, Lake & Palmer's 1979 cover of "Peter Gunn," with R-rated content censored through animated "scribbles" obscuring depictions of nudity, alcohol, cigarettes, and firearms.^[35][47] Scenes of Booth driving a demolition derby car during a figure 8 dirt race, filmed at the Ventura Raceway, were also included, ^[34][35] along with period details such as advertisements for the 1977 films Looking for Mr. Goodbar and Black Sunday on the Paramount lot and a brief shot of Lucy's El Adobe Cafe.^[48] The trailer was released as part of Netflix's promotional campaign for the film.^[35]

In January 2026, set videos from The Adventures of Cliff Booth revealed the appearance of Big Kahuna Burger, a fictional Hawaiian-themed fast-food restaurant and one of Tarantino's recurring fictional brands. It previously had appeared in Reservoir Dogs (1992), Pulp Fiction (1994), and as a bus advertisement in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The restaurant was also briefly featured in The Adventures of Cliff Booth's Super Bowl teaser, where filming converted the Chili John's in Burbank, California, into a 1970s-themed Big Kahuna Burger storefront set piece, including period signage and the tagline "The original since 1963."^[49] The appearance marked the brand's return in a film not directed by Tarantino, with David Fincher directing the project.^[50][51]