Twice Upon a Time in Hollywood? Tarantino’s World Returns—Without Him Directing
Published On: April 3, 2025
When Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood hit theaters in 2019, it felt like both a love letter to a bygone era and a defiant swan song for Quentin Tarantino’s revisionist-history obsessions. The film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as fading TV star Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt as his laid-back, possibly murderous stunt double Cliff Booth, was a critical and commercial success, grossing $392 million worldwide and netting Pitt his first acting Oscar. But Tarantino, who has long vowed to retire after 10 films, seemed content to leave this sun-soaked, blood-spattered fairy tale as a standalone. Until now.
In a twist nobody saw coming, Netflix is developing a Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood follow-up—directed by David Fincher, written by Tarantino, and starring Pitt reprising his role as Cliff Booth. The project, first reported on April Fool’s Day (irony noted), is real, though it’s not quite a sequel. Instead, it’s being described as a “derivative” of the original, repurposing elements from Tarantino’s abandoned The Movie Critic, his would-be 10th and final film.
From The Movie Critic to Cliff Booth 2.0
Tarantino’s unmade The Movie Critic was set in 1977 and centered on a cynical, alcoholic film reviewer for a porn magazine—a character inspired by a real-life critic Tarantino admired in his youth. Brad Pitt was attached, reportedly playing a version of Cliff Booth, whose backstory as a cinephile was expanded in Tarantino’s 2021 novelization of Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood. But Tarantino scrapped the project last year, deeming it unworthy of his final film. Instead, he handed the script to Fincher, a longtime Pitt collaborator (Se7en, Fight Club), who reworked it into a Booth-centric story under his Netflix deal.
The move is unusual for Tarantino, who rarely lets others direct his scripts (True Romance and From Dusk Till Dawn being exceptions). It’s also a gamble: his writer-only projects lack the cult reverence of his directed works, and Netflix’s streaming-first model means this won’t get the theatrical rollout of the original Sony release.
Why this might be a tough sell
- No Tarantino behind the camera: The original film’s charm lay in Tarantino’s hyper-stylized dialogue, needle-drop soundtrack, and tension-bursting violence. Fincher, while a master of precision (Zodiac, The Social Network), operates in colder, more clinical tones. His Netflix films (Mank, The Killer) have been divisive, and his indifference to theatrical releases (“Fincher doesn’t care,” per insiders) suggests this won’t have the big-screen grandeur of the original
- A missing piece—Rick Dalton (and Sharon Tate?): While Pitt is locked in, DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton—the emotional core of the first film—is only “in negotiations” for a small role. Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate, whose tragic real-life fate was rewritten in Tarantino’s revisionist climax, isn’t expected to return at all. Without their dynamic, the sequel risks feeling like a spinoff, not a continuation
- Tarantino’s sequel allergy: The director famously avoids sequels, Kill Bill’s two-parter notwithstanding. His stories are self-contained myths, and Once Upon a Time’s ending—with Booth and Dalton surviving the Manson Family’s attack—felt definitive. A follow-up, even as a “derivative,” risks diluting that closure
The case for optimism
Despite the hurdles, there’s potential. Pitt and Fincher’s collaborations (Fight Club, Benjamin Button) are iconic, and Tarantino’s script—likely blending The Movie Critic’s meta-commentary with Booth’s rugged charm—could be a wildcard. The shift to the 1970s opens doors for deeper Hollywood satire, and Fincher’s knack for psychological thrillers might amplify Booth’s darker edges (remember those wife-killing rumors?).
The legacy of the original
Rewinding to 2019: Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood was Tarantino’s most personal film, a melancholic ode to an industry that left Dalton, and Tarantino’s beloved analog era, behind. It was also his biggest hit since Django Unchained, proving his brand still thrived in a franchise-dominated landscape. The novelization further fleshed out Booth’s past, hinting at untapped stories—but fans assumed those would stay on the page.
Now, with Fincher steering, the question isn’t just whether this sequel can live up to the original, but whether it should exist at all. Tarantino’s blessing suggests he sees value in the experiment, but history isn’t kind to director-swapped follow-ups (American Psycho 2, anyone?). For now, all we know is this: Cliff Booth’s story isn’t over. Whether audiences will care without Tarantino’s fingerprints remains to be seen.