Billboard Women in Music 2025
David Fincher is directing a sequel to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” with Quentin Tarantino writing the follow-up to his Oscar-winning epic. Variety confirms the project, which does not have an official title, is being set up at Netflix, where Fincher has a first-look deal. Brad Pitt will reprise his role as stuntman and potential wife-killer Cliff Booth.
It’s an especially unique production — not only because a high-profile director is helming a sequel to another high-profile director’s film, but also because of the property’s shift from a theatrical studio to a streamer. (The shift is especially pertinent as news of the project emerged during the movie theater industry’s annual weeklong gathering at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.) “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was released by Sony Pictures in 2019, but Tarantino negotiated a deal that would return him ownership of the film’s underlying copyright after a number of years. Since this follow-up is being set up under Fincher’s first-look deal at Netflix, that likely indicates that sequel rights may already be privately retained by Tarantino.
The project comes together after Tarantino scrapped plans for what would’ve been his 10th (and allegedly final) feature, “The Movie Critic.” A script had been written and Brad Pitt had been cast in the lead role. The story was said to take place in the ’70s and follow a film critic who wrote for a porn magazine. It had been rumored that Pitt would be playing some version of his “Once Upon a Time” character Cliff Booth, who in Tarantino’s novelization of his own feature was revealed to be quite the movie buff.
Now, Pitt will officially reprise the role, which won him an Oscar for supporting actor. The project reunites Pitt with Fincher, who have each made some of their most acclaimed films together: the seminal thriller “Se7en,” cult satire “Fight Club” and Oscar darling “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” It seems less likely that Leonardo DiCaprio or Margot Robbie would reprise their roles for the sequel.
While Tarantino’s reputation is as a writer-director, the filmmaker has written scripts that he did not end up helming, including Tony Scott’s “True Romance” and Robert Rodriguez’s “From Dusk till Dawn.” Meanwhile, Fincher has made two features at Netflix, both of which share themes with this new one: the Hollywood period piece “Mank” and the violent working-man thriller “The Killer.”
The Playlist was first to report on the “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” sequel. Netflix did not respond for comment.