With one notable exception, Quentin Tarantino has avoided writing and directing sequels in his career. Now, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is getting the sequel treatment, at least spiritually. Counting Kill Bill as one project, as Tarantino does, this will be the first time the legend will be part of a continuing story. The movie, The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, is written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher. Surprisingly, it was a comment in a review that convinced the Pulp Fiction director to bring back Brad Pitt’s character from Once Upon a Time.
Booth Is A Resonating Character
Over the weekend, Tarantino made an appearance at the AFI Fest in LA for a screening of OUATIH and a 17-minute preview of the new Cliff Booth movie. He talked about the upcoming sequel, which will hit the 2026 movie schedule on November 25 before being able to be streamed with a Netflix subscription on December 23, and why he decided to write it. It all came from a positive review of the first movie. Tarantino commented (via THR):
I tend to not remember good reviews of mine in quotes; I kind of remember the bad reviews in quotes, but I don’t really remember good reviews of mine in quotes. But one quote that I do remember somebody writing about Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, it was like, ‘This seems like the first world Quentin Tarantino has ever created that he would like to live in,’ and there is that aspect.
I wasn’t just audiences who really connected with Booth and Pitt as Booth. Tarantino went on to explain that he loved the character too, saying:
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I loved the Cliff Booth character, I loved the way that Brad played him, and there was this aspect of him as sort of like a paperback hero. I could see like a series of paperbacks with Cliff Booth getting involved with this adventure or that adventure or something like that.
That led to The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, which Tarantino was originally reported to be directing in addition to writing, before he decided to step back from directing and bring in Fincher. Tarantino is also writing a novelization of the movie, turning Booth into a literal paperback hero. I have to wonder if there is more ahead from the character, assuming this movie ends up a hit. Tarantino wonders too, adding:
As time went on, I just thought about coming up with a different adventure, getting him in now a misadventure. I wanted to see what would happen with that. I’ve got nothing to do but just invest in this mythology. I invested in it before I did the movie, and then I invested in it in the years since I’ve done the movie, just so I know the mythology. The audience doesn’t need to know everything, but it’s kind of nice that I know everything, and you can trust me that I know it.
Given that Tarantino has expressed that he plans to direct just one more movie in his career, could there be a future where he writes a series of paperbacks about Cliff Booth? I have to admit, I’m intrigued by the idea.