Quentin Tarantino surprised audiences at AFI Fest on Friday night by sharing the first 17 minutes of “The Next Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.”
Tarantino made a special appearance at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood following a screening of “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.” Following a Q&A moderated by Rotten Tomatoes’ Jacqueline Coley, the filmmaker said: “Well, I could talk a little bit about ‘The Next Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,’ or I could show you the first 17 minutes.”
The film, directed by David Fincher and in which he was among the participants, sees the return of Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt. The film begins in 1977, from the original film’s 1969 timeline. The logline reads: “Los Angeles no longer needs a stuntman killing hippies like it used to. But Hollywood will always have its problems, problems that can only be solved by someone with Cliff’s unique (sometimes illegal) talents. When he’s not making a living as a bartender or projectionist, Cliff Booth is a handyman, solving Hollywood’s great and sometimes not-so-great situations.”
He wonders when he receives a call from talent agent Karen Crosby (Elizabeth Debicki) on behalf of her client, TV megastar Charlie Peters (Scott Caan) — a man known for getting his job done. to have demonstrations. And he becomes even more amused and intrigued when he meets the other characters in Charlie’s world, from his savvy wife Toni (Carla Gugino) to professional football champion turned silver screen star Roderick “Hot Rod” Harrison (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Then there are the Verdusco brothers (Matt Groove and JB Tadena), mysterious gangsters who are causing mayhem all over the city. What was once a fairy tale has now become a crime story; A mix of violence, ambition and desire that could only happen in Los Angeles.
Tarantino, who wrote the script, shared his decision to revisit Cliff Booth. “I don’t tend to remember good reviews of myself in quotes; I remember bad reviews in quotes, but I don’t remember my good reviews in quotes. But one quote I remember someone writing about ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ was: ‘This seems like the first world Quentin Tarantino would want to live in,’ and there’s that aspect to it; I loved the character of Cliff Booth,” Tarantino said. “I loved the way Brad played him, and there was something about him that was kind of like a paperback hero. I could see it as a series of paperbacks where Cliff Booth was involved in this adventure or that adventure or something like that.”
While other details of the plot cannot be spoiled, the opening sequence bears Tarantino’s distinguished writing and visual style; The Hollywood of 1977 is gritty and dark, in true Fincher style.
The Netflix film also stars Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Peter Weller and will debut in Imax theaters on November 25, followed by a December 23 release.
The night started with Tarantino introducing the movie and sharing with those who did not watch the movie in that theater.
During the Q&A, Tarantino shared how he talked to Burt Reynolds about portraying the character George Spahn. Tarantino recalled: “He said yes and we became friends, but he passed away before we could shoot the movie. But we rehearsed with him and did the script reading, so actually the last performance that Burt Reynolds performed was as George Spahn in the script reading.”
The character will be played by Bruce Dern.
He also talked about his play “The Popinjay Cavalier,” starring Sacha Baron Cohen, which will premiere in London’s West End next year. “I won’t talk too much about it, but our previews are in February. We’ll start rehearsals in November.” He continued, “I’m just a writer, and that’s what I do. I write all the time.”