Tarantino Is Back — But This Time He Wrote a Novel, Not a Film (And Yes, Brad Pitt Is Still Cliff Booth)

Tarantino’s Returning to 1977 Hollywood — One More Time

If you thought Quentin Tarantino was taking a break after announcing his tenth and final film would be a directorial project, think again. The legendary filmmaker is making headlines right now with something totally different: a brand-new Cliff Booth novel, dropping in December 2026, plus the Netflix sequel film starring Brad Pitt directed by none other than David Fincher. Yes, two major Once Upon a Time in Hollywood spinoffs hitting in just three months.

Yep. You heard that right. Tarantino isn’t just writing the script for the sequel—he’s actually publishing The Adventures of Cliff Booth as a standalone novel through HarperCollins. Talk about living up to the man’s reputation for being endlessly creative even when he’s not behind a camera.

What Exactly Are We Getting?

The Adventures of Cliff Booth novel drops December 8, 2026. According to Amazon’s official logline, it picks up in Hollywood, 1977 — eight years after the events of the original Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Cliff Booth stays true to form: war hero turned stuntman, bartender, cinema projectionist, and apparently occasional "clandestine services" guy for his buddies. It sounds exactly like what you’d expect from Tarantino’s version of low-key cool.

Then came the bombshell: Netflix acquired The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, a feature film written by Tarantino and directed by David Fincher. Brad Pitt will once again play the legendary stuntman who made our hearts melt back in 2019. And yes, Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton still matters to the story—even if he doesn’t show up in person.

The film’s theatrical run kicks off with an exclusive IMAX release on November 25, 2026, lasting only two weeks. Then the full streaming debut lands December 23, 2026. The cast also includes Timothy Olyphant reprising his role as Western actor James Stacy, alongside newcomers Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, and Peter Weller. Producers include Tarantino, Pitt, David Heyman (Harry Potter), Stacey Sher, and Ceán Chaffin.

Why This Feels Different for Tarantino Fans

Tarantino has never written a novel tied to one of his films before. While tie-in novelizations exist, they’re almost always done by ghostwriters. Here, Tarantino himself crafted both the screenplay and the book — making this closer to Arthur C. Clarke collaborating with Kubrick on 2001: A Space Odyssey. The novel reportedly takes place concurrently with the film, exploring booth’s adventures from an inside perspective that the screen can’t touch.

For millennials who spent years rewatching Once Upon a Time in Hollywood on repeat during lockdown, this feels like coming home to LA’s fading Golden Age all over again. Two projects, same universe, same era, different mediums. That’s not typical franchise behavior — that’s pure auteur energy.

Whether you’re team book-first or team movie-first, December 2026 just became the month where we get both. And honestly? We don’t deserve this kind of late-year content binge. (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻