Although Brad Pitt is bringing back Cliff Booth for a sequel to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino is sitting this one out as director.
In addition to not wanting his final film to be a sequel, the 2x Oscar winner explained why he chose not to helm The Adventures of Cliff Booth, passing the baton and his script on to fellow director David Fincher.
“I think me and David Fincher are the two best directors,” he said on The Church of Tarantino podcast. “So the idea that David Fincher actually wants to adapt my work, to me, shows a level of seriousness towards my work that I think needs to be taken into account.”
After Deadline reported in April that Pitt and Se7en director Fincher got Tarantino’s approval to use his script to make the sequel, which was originally set to be his final directorial outing, the cast has since added Pitt, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Corey Fogelmanis and JB Tadena.
The movie is believed to have scored a $20 million California film-tax credit, and Pitt told Deadline filming would begin in July.
Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth in ‘Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood’
Everett Collection
In the same podcast, Tarantino also explained why he chose not to make The Movie Critic his 10th and final film. “There was a challenge that I gave to myself when I did it. Can I take the most boring profession in the world and make it an interesting movie?” he said. “Every Tarantino title promises so much, except The Movie Critic.”
Meanwhile, Tarantino is taking a break from filmmaking as he turns to theater, after telling Deadline he’s “really juiced about live theater right now” at Sundance in January.