Wait, The 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Sequel Is Actually Real?

Yesterday, news broke that David Fincher would be directing a Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood sequel centered around Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth and written by the man himself, Quentin Tarantino. Obviously, this sounds insane, and it didn’t help that all of this information was pouring out on April Fool’s Day. There’s no way this could be real. That’s what we all thought, but apparently, the news is legit?

Via The Playlist:

From what I understand, this is the screenplay that Tarantino’s “The Movie Critic” evolved into when the writer/director couldn’t put the pen down and kept exploring the adventures of Cliff Booth.

Tarantino must have loved the script and didn’t want it to languish in a drawer because sources close to the filmmakers tell us he approached Fincher, and Netflix has quietly put together the deal, which will probably end up being around a $200 million budget to shoot in California this July—yep, it’s being fast-tracked and happening fast, meaning we’ll get additional casting soon.

Deadline moved the ball further down the field by adding some more details:

So here is what we hear. Brad Pitt indeed got Tarantino’s blessing to show Pitt’s Se7en director David Fincher the script that focuses on subsequent adventures of Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood’s Cliff Booth character. And because Fincher is exclusive to Netflix, the movie — if it gets made — will be financed and released by Netflix, straight to streaming. Tarantino will be paid a fortune for his words, as he readies a play he’s written and works on the final film he’ll direct. That one seems headed for Sony, where Tarantino directed the first film. No way Tarantino would helm his final film for a streaming service, but he respects Fincher and Netflix has been Fincher’s domain since he helped establish the streaming giant with House of Cards.

However, Deadline mentions twice in its reporting that this thing is not a done deal, but it is not an April Fool’s joke. It also jibes with reports that The Movie Critic was centered on Cliff Booth before Tarantino scrapped it. There were murmurs that he didn’t want to end his career on a sequel, but it appears he’s still so wildly in love with the character that he couldn’t let the script sit on a shelf. Not for nothing, the Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood novel also went deep on Cliff, a character who Tarantino also filmed kicking Bruce Lee’s ass. We get it, guy!

Of course, there’s the issue of the Brad Pitt abuse allegations, which have barely slowed down his public persona and probably won’t affect this deal one bit. You can practically hear Netflix drooling over this get, but I’d be remiss not to mention the unpleasantness. Pitt allegedly assaulted his wife, one of the most famous movie stars on the planet, and the industry just shrugged like, “Eh, what’re ya gonna do?” I mean, Christ, the dude is literally Quentin Tarantino’s Marty Stu, and the obsession has only gotten worse.

That said, what do you expect Netflix to do here: not bank on the star of Wolfs, a film you absolutely didn’t forget about until just now? C’mon.