Quentin Tarantino Shows First 17 Minutes of 'The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth' at AFI Fest

Quentin Tarantino closed a screening and onstage conversation at AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Friday night, Oct. 23, by showing the audience the first 17 minutes of "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth," the follow-up to his 2019 film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter and TheWrap reported. According to Deadline, the event at the TCL Chinese Theatre marked the first public look at the film, which Tarantino wrote and David Fincher directed, with Brad Pitt returning as stuntman Cliff Booth.

According to Deadline's Pete Hammond, Tarantino had just been asked about the new film at the end of his Q&A when he told the crowd, "Well, I could talk a little bit about The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, or I could show you the first 17 minutes." TheWrap reported the crowd expected a screening of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," which Deadline noted received 10 Oscar nominations, followed by a conversation with the filmmaker.

What the footage showed

IndieWire's Jim Hemphill reported that as the film begins in June 1977, Booth works as a projectionist at the New Beverly Cinema, the Los Angeles theater IndieWire noted Tarantino now owns. IndieWire said the footage includes "Soul Brothers Die Hard," a Blaxploitation film-within-the-film starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and introduces Booth's father, a pawn shop proprietor played by Peter Weller.

The Hollywood Reporter's Kirsten Chuba said the film is set in 1977, eight years after the events of the first movie, and described the footage as showing Booth working as a cinema projectionist while handling more unsavory business on the side.

Deadline reported that the film's logline describes Booth, when he is not earning his keep bartending or as a projectionist, as a fixer who solves situations for Hollywood figures. Deadline said the cast also includes Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan and Carla Gugino.

Why Tarantino returned to the character

The Hollywood Reporter said that before showing the footage, Tarantino explained why he revisited Booth. "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," he said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "I could see like a series of paperbacks with Cliff Booth getting involved with this adventure or that adventure or something like that."

He added, per THR, "As time went on, I just thought about coming up with a different adventure, getting him into a misadventure. I wanted to see what would happen with that." THR reported Tarantino also said that "if I'm going to watch any of my movies, it would be this one," referring to "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." TheWrap reported that the AFI Fest screening was the first time he had seen that film in IMAX.

Speaking about his decision to write rather than direct the new film, Tarantino told the audience, "As I'm getting older, being a man of letters is more my thing, so screenplays and books and plays — everything except poetry," according to THR. THR noted he has also written a novel set in the world of "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

TheWrap reported that Tarantino also discussed the original film's casting, saying the late Burt Reynolds had been set to play George Spahn before Bruce Dern took over the role after Reynolds' death. "We did the script reading with him, so actually the last performance that Burt Reynolds ever gave was as George Spahn," Tarantino said.

Fincher's edit and the release plan

The footage arrived days after Variety's Anna Tingley reported on Oct. 20 about a new joint interview Fincher and Tarantino gave to Empire magazine. According to Variety, Fincher told Empire, "The first draft I read was 230 pages. It was essentially two movies," and said he cut roughly 60 pages. Variety noted that Pitt previously worked with Fincher on "Se7en," "Fight Club" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

"The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" is scheduled to open exclusively in IMAX theaters on Wednesday, Nov. 25, before premiering on Netflix on Wednesday, Dec. 23, according to Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap and Variety. Variety described the theatrical window as a two-week global IMAX run.

According to Deadline, Tarantino also used the AFI Fest appearance to discuss "The Popinjay Cavalier," his first stage play. Deadline previously reported that Sacha Baron Cohen will star in the swashbuckling comedy, which is set in 1830s Europe and is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment. Deadline reported that previews are scheduled to begin Feb. 23, 2027, ahead of an official opening on March 18, 2027, at the Phoenix Theatre in London's West End.