Quentin Tarantino delivered the first public glimpse of The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth at AFI Fest, surprising the Los Angeles audience with the sequel’s opening 17 minutes.

The filmmaker unveiled the footage on Friday night following a screening of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and a special-event Q&A at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. The 2019 film received 10 Oscar nominations, while Brad Pitt won an Oscar for his performance as stuntman Cliff Booth.

As the conversation neared its end, Tarantino was asked about the sequel, how it came together and whether he had anything else to share.

“Well, I could talk a little bit about The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, or I could show you the first 17 minutes,” Tarantino told the crowd before standing up as the audience realized a preview was coming.

The footage marked the first time material from the film had been publicly screened. Tarantino wrote the follow-up, with David Fincher directing and Pitt reprising the title role.

Cliff Booth Returns in 1977

The new story jumps forward from the original movie’s 1969 setting to 1977. Cliff, previously seen as the stuntman and sidekick to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton, is now working as a Hollywood fixer.

According to the film’s logline, Los Angeles may no longer have the same need for a “hippie-slaying stuntman,” but Hollywood still generates problems suited to Cliff’s distinctive and sometimes extralegal talents. When he is not working as a bartender or projectionist, he handles situations involving both the industry’s celebrated figures and some of its less admirable players.

Pitt is joined by Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, Matt Groove, JB Tadena, Corey Fogelmanis and Karren Karagulian.

Netflix plans to release The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth theatrically in Imax on November 25. The film will then become available on the streaming service beginning December 23.

Fincher Reshaped Tarantino’s Extensive Script

Anticipation has been building since the project was announced in 2024, when Pitt and Fincher were revealed to be teaming up on a screenplay Tarantino had initially wanted to direct.

Fincher said earlier this week that the first version of Tarantino’s script he read ran 230 pages. The director ultimately removed 60 pages while bringing the material to the screen.

“It was essentially two movies,” Fincher told Empire.

Despite those substantial cuts, Fincher said the finished film still runs approximately two and a half hours. The 17-minute AFI Fest presentation therefore offered only an early sample of the full production, but it gave the audience its first view of Pitt’s return as Booth under Fincher’s direction.

ShowBiz Take

The AFI Fest reveal matters because it moved The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth beyond announcements, casting details and discussions of Tarantino’s lengthy screenplay. Audiences have now seen part of the finished collaboration between Tarantino, Fincher and Pitt.

It also underlined the project’s unusual creative arrangement. Tarantino has returned to a character and world he created, but Fincher is directing the resulting film after substantially condensing the original 230-page draft. With Pitt back in his Oscar-winning role and the timeline advancing eight years, the sequel is positioned to explore a different stage of Cliff’s life rather than simply revisit the events of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The release plan gives the film two distinct stages: an Imax theatrical run beginning November 25, followed by its Netflix streaming debut on December 23.

What Happens Next?

Tarantino also used the AFI Fest appearance to discuss another upcoming project, his first stage play, The Popinjay Cavalier. Sacha Baron Cohen will star when the production premieres in London’s West End next spring.

Previews are scheduled to begin February 23 at the Phoenix Theatre, with opening night set for March 18. Before then, attention will turn to the Imax arrival of The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth and the wider unveiling of the roughly two-and-a-half-hour film.