Quentin Tarantino gave an AFI Fest audience an unexpected preview of Brad Pitt’s next movie, screening the opening 17 minutes of The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.
The October 23 event at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theatre featured an IMAX presentation of his 2019 film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, followed by a Q&A moderated by Rotten Tomatoes’ Jacqueline Coley.
Pitt reprises the stuntman he played opposite Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton, with David Fincher directing from Tarantino’s screenplay. Fincher attended the evening and walked the red carpet, but Tarantino introduced the new footage himself.
The extended excerpt has not been officially released online.
Tarantino Asked Fans to Turn Off Their Phones Before the Preview
As the conversation neared its end, Tarantino offered to talk about the follow-up or show the audience its opening. He then asked everyone to switch off their phones.
According to USA TODAY reporter Bryan Alexander, security personnel stationed around the auditorium watched for illuminated screens while the footage played.
Tarantino also told the audience that he had never previously watched his original film in IMAX, TheWrap reported. The venue had hosted that movie’s U.S. premiere, according to AFI’s announcement of the event.
Cliff Buys a Stolen Best Director Oscar at the New Beverly
TheWrap’s account places the opening in June 1977, eight years after the original story. Cliff is working at the New Beverly Cinema, the Los Angeles theater Tarantino owns.
Onscreen is Soul Brothers Die Hard, a movie within the movie featuring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Roderick “Hot Rod” Harrison. Cliff recites dialogue from the projection booth and replenishes the theater’s RC Cola supply.
He also calls his father, pawnshop owner Gus Booth, played by Peter Weller. Cliff wants him to hear a song he has dedicated to him on a Los Angeles AM radio station.
Two men played by Karren Karagulian and Corey Fogelmanis arrive outside. Cliff brings them into the theater and pays for stolen merchandise, including an Academy Award for Best Director.
Alexander’s account adds that the cinema doubles as Cliff’s soundproofed, unofficial business premises after hours.
Tarantino Imagined Cliff as a Hero Who Could Keep Returning
According to USA TODAY’s account of the discussion, Tarantino’s affection for the character and Pitt’s performance made him want to write another adventure. He described Cliff as a “paperback hero,” someone he could imagine encountering fresh trouble across a series of novels.
TheWrap also reported that Tarantino selected books and posters for Cliff’s home in the original film. He even invented a backstory for the character’s clothes: Cliff had doubled for Tom Laughlin in The Born Losers and kept the wardrobe.
Writing more about Cliff did not mean Tarantino wanted to direct another film in the same setting. On The Church of Tarantino podcast in August 2025, he explained that revisiting familiar creative ground did not excite him enough for what he intended to be his tenth and final directing project.
“This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory,” he said, as reported by Variety.
‘Cliff Booth’ Opens in IMAX Before Its Netflix Release
Netflix’s synopsis describes Cliff’s wider role as a Hollywood fixer, handling problems for people whose troubles sometimes require work outside the law.
Talent agent Karen Crosby, played by Elizabeth Debicki, contacts him on behalf of television star Charlie Peters, portrayed by Scott Caan. Carla Gugino plays Charlie’s wife, Toni, while gangsters known as the Verdusco brothers add to the danger surrounding Cliff’s work.
The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth begins an exclusive two-week run in IMAX theaters worldwide on November 25, 2026. It arrives on Netflix on December 23.