HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 23: (L-R) Quentin Tarantino and David Fincher attend AFI FEST 2026 Presented By Canva “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” With Quentin Tarantino at TCL Chinese Theatre on October 23, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)
Quentin Tarantino just gave a few hundred lucky people in Los Angeles the first proper look at David Fincher’s Cliff Booth movie. After an IMAX screening of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and a Q&A at AFI Fest (specifically at the TCL CHINESE THEATRE) on Friday night, he told the room to put their phones away and rolled the first 17 minutes of The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.
Netflix confirmed the surprise in a press release shortly afterwards although there have been rumors for several weeks that the movie would be making its full premiere here, no word on where and when this still is, which also serves as a handy reminder that the movie is now just a month away. It hits IMAX theaters globally on November 25th, 2026 for a two-week exclusive run before landing on Netflix on December 23rd, 2026.
The Q&A itself, moderated by Jacqueline Coley, is well worth your time if you’re a fan of the original. You can watch the whole thing below (thanks to JJSmithMedia for uploading it).
What Happens in the First 17 Minutes?
Sadly, the footage itself isn’t going online and we wouldn’t hold our breath for a leak either. Thankfully, TheWrap was in the room and has a detailed rundown of how the movie opens. Here’s how it plays out, per their report:
- Opening titles set the movie eight years after the first film. Cliff has seemingly left stunt work behind.
- Cliff is now managing the New Beverly Cinema in LA, the real-life arthouse theater Tarantino has owned since 2007.
- The film on the marquee is a fictional blaxploitation flick starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Roderick “Hot Rod” Harrison. We get an extended strip-club sequence from it, with Cliff reciting the lines along with the movie while running the projection booth and refilling the RC Cola.
- Cliff phones his dad, a pawn-shop owner played by Peter Weller, having dedicated a song to him on an LA AM radio station, a nice callback to the first film.
- Karren Karagulian (Anora) and Corey Fogelmanis (Girl Meets World) are loitering out front until Cliff waves them in. One says Cliff looks familiar. Cliff replies that he gets that a lot.
- Inside, Cliff reportedly pays the pair for a haul of stolen items, including an Academy Award for Best Director. (TheWrap points out that neither Tarantino nor Fincher has ever won that one, despite three nominations apiece.)
From there, TheWrap says, things escalate into gangsters, blackmail and the movie business. In other words, “a very different Hollywood,” as the official logline puts it.
There have been some reactions to the debut including from Matt Neglia, who wrote: “Can’t give away plot details other than it featured the shots below but what I can say is I think David Fincher directing a Quentin Tarantino screenplay is going to be one hell of a good time”
@kenzie__xcx wrote, “first 17 minutes of cliff booth are truly magical and remind me why i fell in love with this character in the first place. so excited to see the rest of this fincher film and adventure of my favorite stuntman.”
Why Is Cliff Booth Getting a Sequel?
Coley asked Tarantino how the movie came about, and his answer was all about the character rather than any particular story.
“I love the Cliff Booth character, I love the way that Brad played him,” he said. “There was this aspect of him as like a paperback hero, like a series of paperbacks of Cliff Booth getting involved with this adventure or that adventure. As time went on I just thought about coming up with a different adventure. Now a misadventure.”
He also admitted Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the one film of his he’d happily rewatch, precisely because it’s a hangout movie rather than a plot machine, and recalled a review line that stuck with him: that it “seems like the first world Quentin Tarantino has ever created that he would like to live in.” Clearly, he’s not done living in it.
If you need a refresher on how the project went from Tarantino directing to Fincher taking the reins, our everything-we-know guide has the full history.
The Best Bits From the Q&A
A few highlights from the conversation itself:
- Burt Reynolds’ final performance. Tarantino originally cast Reynolds as Spahn Ranch owner George Spahn and got as far as a full script read-through before Reynolds passed away in 2018. “The last performance that Burt Reynolds ever gave was as George Spahn in the script reading,” Tarantino said. Bruce Dern ultimately played the role.
- Margot Robbie’s secret second role. Robbie voiced the Pan Am flight attendant on Rick and Cliff’s flight home from Italy, reprising her character from the short-lived 2011 ABC drama Pan Am. She rewatched an episode to get the voice right, although barely any of it survived the final cut.
- Cliff’s Billy Jack outfit. The denim jacket and jeans Cliff wears early on aren’t just a nod to Tom Laughlin’s Billy Jack. In Tarantino’s head-canon, Cliff doubled Laughlin for the final week of The Born Losers and took the costume home instead of his $200 bonus.
- Cliff’s trailer. Tarantino personally dressed the set with the right comics, paperbacks, toys and that month’s TV Guide after deciding the art department “doesn’t know Cliff Booth the way I do.”
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 23: Quentin Tarantino speaks onstage during AFI FEST 2026 Presented By Canva “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” With Quentin Tarantino at TCL Chinese Theatre on October 23, 2026 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AFI)
In case you missed it, the first full trailer is online now after playing exclusively in theaters ahead of Resident Evil, and we went frame-by-frame on the IMAX first-look stills last month. We’ll keep you posted as the IMAX run gets closer.
Are you planning to see The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth in IMAX, or will you wait for it to hit Netflix on December 23rd? Let us know in the comments.