Quentin Tarantino is writing a novel based on his 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' spinoff 'Cliff Booth,' set for release later this year alongside the forthcoming film. The book, titled 'The Adventures of Cliff Booth,' will be published by HarperCollins on Dec. 8 — a title that differs slightly from the movie's, 'The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.'
The film, directed by David Fincher for Netflix, stars Brad Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role as longtime stuntman Cliff Booth. Tarantino wrote the screenplay but is not directing. 'The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth' opens in Imax theaters on Nov. 25 before streaming on Netflix starting Dec. 23. Tarantino previously published a novelization of his 2019 film 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.'
Both the new novel and film are set in Hollywood in 1977, eight years after the events of 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.' That original film, released by Sony, starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Pitt as an aging actor and his longtime stunt double navigating a changing industry, set against the backdrop of the Manson family murders in the late 1960s. Margot Robbie played Sharon Tate, the rising actress married to director Roman Polanski. The 2019 film grossed more than $400 million worldwide against a $90 million budget and earned 10 Oscar nominations, winning two. Netflix's sequel carries a $200 million production budget.
While plot details for the sequel remain under wraps, the novel's logline offers a glimpse: "the Swinging Sixties are long gone — but Clifford Booth keeps on keeping on…War hero, stuntman, bartender, cinema projectionist…with the occasional 'clandestine services' for his friends…"
Tarantino opted not to direct the sequel himself, citing his long-stated plan to retire after making 10 films. He has directed nine so far, including 'Pulp Fiction,' 'Inglourious Basterds' and 'Reservoir Dogs,' and has said he doesn't want a sequel to be his final effort. "I love this script, but I'm still walking down the same ground I've already walked," Tarantino said last year on 'The Church of Tarantino' podcast. "It just kind of unenthused me. This last movie, I've got to not know what I'm doing again. I've got to be in uncharted territory."
Photo: Sardaka, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
