Brad Pitt is slipping back behind the wheel as Cliff Booth, but Hollywood looks far less sunny than it did the last time audiences saw him. Netflix has released the official trailer for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, bringing Pitt back to the Oscar-winning role he originated in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. This time, David Fincher is behind the camera while Tarantino provides the screenplay, creating a rare collaboration between two filmmakers with very different approaches to crime, violence and Hollywood mythology. The movie will begin an exclusive two-week global IMAX run on November 25, 2026, before arriving on Netflix on December 23.
Eight years have passed inside the story as well. The original film was set in 1969, but Cliff’s new adventure takes place in 1977, where he is no longer simply the stunt double and loyal companion of fading television star Rick Dalton. Netflix describes Booth as operating in a very different Hollywood, while the new trailer reveals that his profession has shifted toward becoming a studio fixer—the person called when powerful people need uncomfortable problems handled quietly. That premise gives Pitt’s effortlessly dangerous character an almost tailor-made new job while allowing the sequel to move away from simply recreating the dynamic of the first movie.
Cliff Booth Has a New Job in a Darker 1977 Hollywood
The trailer wastes little time showing that Booth remains capable of turning an ordinary situation into chaos. Among the footage are confrontations, car chases and glimpses of the seedier side of 1970s Hollywood, while one sequence takes place around the Beverly Cinema, the Los Angeles theater Quentin Tarantino owns. Rather than working primarily on film sets performing dangerous stunts for someone else, Cliff now appears to move between stars, agents and people who would rather their problems never become public. Vulture reports that Elizabeth Debicki’s character brings him into the orbit of television celebrity Charlie Peters, played by Scott Caan, pulling Cliff toward another increasingly complicated situation.
Rick Dalton, however, will not be joining him this time. Leonardo DiCaprio is not currently part of the announced cast, and the trailer even gives audiences a characteristically dry explanation for why Cliff stopped doubling his old friend. When Debicki’s character asks, “You worked with Rick Dalton for a number of years. What brought an end to your engagement?”, Booth replies, “Oh, Rick got too fat for me to double him anymore.” It is exactly the kind of casually brutal joke that fits Cliff, while also allowing the screenplay to acknowledge the original movie without requiring Dalton to return. The result makes this feel less like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 2 and more like another story involving one of that film’s most memorable characters.
The returning connection is instead Timothy Olyphant, who is set to reprise James Stacy, the actor Cliff and Rick encountered during the original film’s Western television production. Netflix’s announced ensemble also includes Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, JB Tadena, Corey Fogelmanis and Karren Karagulian, with additional reports listing Holt McCallany among the cast. That combination gives Fincher plenty of new personalities to place around Booth while keeping at least one recognisable thread running back to Tarantino’s 2019 film. Netflix currently categorises the movie across drama, comedy and period-film territory, which fits a trailer that moves between dark humour and sudden violence rather than settling into a straightforward action sequel.
Why Tarantino Handed Cliff Booth to David Fincher
Perhaps the strangest thing about The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth is that Quentin Tarantino wrote the screenplay but deliberately chose not to direct it. Speaking on The Church of Tarantino podcast in 2025, he explained that returning to the same world did not give him the sense of creative uncertainty he wants from what he continues to describe as his final directed feature. Tarantino said, “I love this script, but I’m still walking down the same ground I’ve already walked,” before explaining, “This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory.” Rather than abandoning Cliff Booth altogether, he allowed another filmmaker to interpret the character.
Fincher was hardly a random replacement. Tarantino has publicly expressed enormous admiration for him and said during the same discussion, “I think me and David Fincher are the two best directors.” He added that Fincher wanting to adapt his screenplay demonstrated a seriousness toward his work that mattered to him. Pitt also has a long history with Fincher, having starred in Se7en, Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, meaning the director already understands how to use Pitt in stories that mix charisma with darker psychological material. Pitt previously said he gave Fincher the screenplay while they were travelling together, and Fincher had committed to making it by the time their flight ended.
That change of director may ultimately be the biggest reason this continuation is worth watching. Tarantino’s original film treated 1969 Hollywood as a warm, melancholy fantasy interrupted by bursts of violence, while Fincher’s best-known work often finds menace beneath carefully controlled surfaces. Moving the story to 1977 naturally creates another distinction, since the studio system, stars and culture surrounding Cliff have changed with the decade. Netflix itself describes it simply as “a very different Hollywood,” and the new trailer suggests Fincher is taking that phrase seriously rather than trying to reproduce Tarantino’s visual rhythm scene for scene.
The Film Is Also a Major Experiment for Netflix
Netflix is giving The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth considerably more theatrical room than audiences usually associate with one of its original movies. The movie will play exclusively in IMAX globally for two weeks beginning November 25 before reaching subscribers on December 23, creating nearly a month between its large-format premiere and streaming launch. TheWrap describes the project as the first Netflix film to receive an IMAX theatrical release around the world, making the rollout noteworthy beyond the Pitt-Fincher-Tarantino combination. Netflix officially confirmed the IMAX window in August when it revealed the movie’s final title and release plans.
Fincher has again surrounded himself with several regular collaborators behind the camera. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who previously worked with Fincher on Mank and The Killer, serves as director of photography, while Kirk Baxter handles editing and Donald Graham Burt is production designer. The movie was filmed on location in Los Angeles, allowing the production to remain physically connected to the Hollywood environment that defines Cliff’s world even as the story jumps forward eight years. Pitt and Ceán Chaffin are among the producers, while Tarantino remains closely associated with the project as its writer and producer rather than simply lending his characters to another filmmaker.
Cliff Booth’s universe is expanding beyond the screen too. Tarantino has another novel, The Adventures of Cliff Booth, scheduled for December 8, 2026, placing its publication between the film’s IMAX opening and Netflix streaming debut. The filmmaker previously expanded Cliff’s history through his 2021 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood novelisation, where the character received considerably more backstory than the movie provided. That makes Booth an unusual Tarantino creation: a supporting character who has gradually become the centre of his own film, a new novel and potentially an entire collection of standalone adventures.
The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth: Key Questions
When does The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth release?
The film opens globally in IMAX on November 25, 2026. Netflix says that theatrical run will last for two weeks before the movie later reaches the streaming service. Its Netflix premiere is scheduled for December 23, 2026. That gives audiences the choice of seeing Fincher’s film first on an IMAX screen or waiting roughly four weeks for its streaming debut.
Is The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth a sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
It continues the story of Cliff Booth eight years after Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, although its focus has shifted entirely toward Pitt’s character. The original film took place in 1969, while this story is set in 1977. Cliff has also changed careers, moving from stunt work into the shadowy world of studio problem-solving. For that reason, it can function as a continuation or spin-off rather than a conventional sequel built around the entire original cast.
Is Leonardo DiCaprio returning as Rick Dalton?
Leonardo DiCaprio is not currently listed among the film’s announced cast. Instead, Rick Dalton is referenced through Cliff’s past and even becomes the subject of a joke in the trailer about why their stunt-double relationship ended. This allows the new movie to acknowledge their friendship without making Rick central to the story again. Timothy Olyphant, however, does return as James Stacy from the original film.
Why isn’t Quentin Tarantino directing the Cliff Booth sequel?
Tarantino has said that directing another film in the same world felt like returning to territory he had already explored. Because he still intends his tenth directed feature to be his last, he wants that movie to place him creatively somewhere unfamiliar. He therefore remained involved as screenwriter and producer while David Fincher took over directing duties. Tarantino has also spoken very positively about Fincher and the idea of another major filmmaker interpreting his screenplay.
Who stars alongside Brad Pitt?
Netflix officially lists Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, Matt Groove, JB Tadena, Corey Fogelmanis and Karren Karagulian among the cast. Timothy Olyphant is also returning as James Stacy, while Holt McCallany has been associated with the film through casting reports. Several of these characters remain deliberately mysterious ahead of release. The trailer suggests Debicki and Caan will be particularly important to the situation Cliff finds himself pulled into.
Did Brad Pitt win an Oscar for playing Cliff Booth?
Yes. Pitt won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The character was introduced as Rick Dalton’s stunt double, driver and close friend, but quickly became one of the film’s defining figures. Netflix now specifically promotes Pitt’s return as a return to his Academy Award-winning role. The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth will be the first movie built primarily around the character.
