The Adventures of Cliff Booth (David Fincher, 2026)

[flyonthewall2983]

David Fincher to direct [Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood] follow up written by Tarantino. Brad Pitt, returning as Cliff Booth is attached and will start shooting this summer.

[Mr Sausage]

What is it with Brad Pitt roping Fincher into bizarre, unnecessary sequels well outside of Fincher’s wheelhouse?

[Never Cursed]

Hey, it might still be an April Fools prank...right?

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

It’s now very much not an April Fool’s Joke. They’re currently filming this movie in the neighborhood my mother lives in. They started building out the sets two weeks ago and apparently began shooting yesterday. Here’s a few candids including news that Karren Karagulian is cast in the film.

[domino harvey]

On first glance I thought Fincher cast Dennis Finch

[Mr Sausage]

I don't get why Pitt keeps dragging Fincher into unnecessary sequels. First World War Z 2 and now this.

[Monterey Jack]

This is going to be like that Netflix Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel no one remembers existing. It's hard to wrap my mind around Tarantino -- who has always been a staunch advocate for movies shown theatrically and shot/projected on actual film -- handing over a screenplay to digital & streaming fanboy David Fincher.

[beamish14]

This is going to be like that Netflix Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel no one remembers existing. It's hard to wrap my mind around Tarantino -- who has always been a staunch advocate for movies shown theatrically and shot/projected on actual film -- handing over a screenplay to digital & streaming fanboy David Fincher.

Mank was theatrically screened at Tarantino’s New Beverly, and I have no doubt that he’ll be able to get a 70mm theatrical rollout for this

[Monterey Jack]

That's not the same as a proper national rollout.

[knives]

Maybe, just maybe, Tarantino can respect others who have a different view of film than him. He even shot a scene digitally as a favor to one of his friends.

[therewillbeblus]

I’m actually looking forward to this. I’ve come to see Fincher at his best when adapting schlocky material and this could be another perfectly-crafted, self-conscious bit of slick trashy fun

[Never Cursed]

A teaser trailer for the Cliff Booth project aired during the Super Bowl, but without any title.

[flyonthewall2983]

I’m hearing this might be a limited series

[therewillbeblus]

I expect another teaser or trailer will drop soon to build on the momentum from the commercial, otherwise the lack of title doesn't make sense and this will fizzle from the memories it hasn't already

I’m hearing this might be a limited series

It says "This film is not yet rated" at the end, so I'm assuming a movie vs series

[domino harvey]

Looks Finchery, though I do not understand why he signed up for thankless auteurial cucking like this

[Never Cursed]

I think they just gave him a ton of money; the movie cost as much as Scorsese’s recent epics.

[mfunk9786]

Fincher’s last great films were adaptations/jobs for hire. Then he went down the Mank rabbit hole and never came back. The Killer was dull because of more of a focus on being able to digitally photoshop city landmarks than on actors giving memorable performances. This feels like Fincher back in a mode that he works very well in, which is … ignoring his own questionable personal taste and letting the material do the walking. If the script is really as good as Pitt seemed to think it was (begging Tarantino to let him find a director for it), then why would I want some nondescript Netflix slop over this? Gimme this 100 times out of 100.

[Mr Sausage]

But The Killer was also an adaptation (and an Andrew Kevin Walker script to boot). Looks like a full seven of his films were adapted from books, including his worst movie, Benjamin Button. So...I don't know. Can't say what this sequel will end up being. But Fincher's the last guy I would've predicted swerving into comedy.

Fincher's Mindhunter series for Netflix was terrific.

[mfunk9786]

Just think he missed the ball on it because there wasn’t much there there - I know it has its fans. But almost felt like it turned into a filmmaking experiment for Fincher rather than something he could get his teeth into. Could say the same about Benjamin Button!

Mindhunter was fabulous, agreed 100%. Carl Franklin did some incredible work in the 2nd season.

[thirtyframesasecond]

Of the 90s music video auteurs, Fincher started his filmmaking career with a bang, then definitely dropped off more recently. Romanek presumably is difficult to work with?

[colinr0380]

Although with Romanek, despite his having apparently dismissed it, Static really desperately needs to get rediscovered.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Romanek was a regular figure around Los Angeles film screenings about a decade ago and seemed like a nice guy. My question is whatever happened to Chris Cunningham? I still wish he would've made a William Gibson adaptation.

[zedz]

Romanek was a feature director before he moved into music videos (the doggedly weird Static (1985), which presumably got him his first video gig with The The, since 'This Is the Day' features throughout that movie). I see him more as an uncommercial indie filmmaker who happened to find a niche in music video. His success there bought him a couple of shots at commercial features, but that was never his skill set and when they failed to catch fire the phone stopped ringing.

Fincher, on the other hand, always seemed to be on a trajectory for the mass market and executed his career cannily with this in mind.

EDIT: Chris Cunningham was never going to have a big career in feature films, but I wish he were more prolific in whatever medium.

[beamish14]

Although with Romanek, despite his having apparently dismissed it, Static really desperately needs to get rediscovered.

I’ve literally begged repertory theatres to screen that absolute gem. I don’t know who owns the home video rights now-maybe MGM? The BFI has a 35mm print

[beamish14]

Romanek was a feature director before he moved into music videos (the doggedly weird Static (1985), which presumably got him his first video gig with The The, since 'This Is the Day' features throughout that movie). I see him more as an uncommercial indie filmmaker who happened to find a niche in music video. His success there bought him a couple of shots at commercial features, but that was never his skill set and when they failed to catch fire the phone stopped ringing.

Fincher, on the other hand, always seemed to be on a trajectory for the mass market and executed his career cannily with this in mind.

EDIT: Chris Cunningham was never going to have a big career in feature films, but I wish he were more prolific in whatever medium.

Fincher was so incredibly young when he was doing VFX work on Twice Upon a Time and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He came straight out of the gate with one of the greatest PSAs to ever air in America-they were still showing this well into the early 90’s. Aligning himself with Propaganda Films further solidified his ascent.