Quentin Tarantino surprised audiences Friday night at AFI Fest by sharing the first 17 minutes of “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.”
Tarantino made a special appearance at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood, following the screening of “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood.” Following the Q&A hosted by Rotten Tomatoes’ Jacqueline Coley, the filmmaker said, “Well, I could talk a little bit about ‘The Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth’ or I could show you the first 17 minutes.”
Directed by David Fincher, also present, the film sees the return of Cliff Booth played by Brad Pitt. The film picks up in 1977 the timeline of the original 1969 film. The logline reads: “Los Angeles no longer needs a hippie-killing stuntman like it used to. But Hollywood will always have problems, problems that can only be solved by someone with Cliff’s unique (sometimes extra-legal) abilities. When he’s not making a living as a bartender or a projectionist, Cliff Booth is a fixer – solving situations for the big guys and, sometimes, the worst in Hollywood.
He’s curious 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 doing his job. own waterfalls. And he’s even more entertained and intrigued when he meets other characters from Charlie’s world, from his wife Toni (Carla Gugino) to professional football champion turned movie star Roderick “Hot Rod” Harrison (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Then there are the Verdusco brothers (Matt Groove and JB Tadena), mysterious gangsters who wreak havoc throughout the city. What was once a fairy tale is now a detective story – a cocktail of violence, ambition and desire that could only happen in Los Angeles.
Tarantino, who wrote the screenplay, shared his decision to revisit Cliff Booth. He said: “I tend not to remember my quote-unquote good reviews; I remember the quote-unquote bad reviews, but I don’t really remember my quote-unquote good reviews. But one quote I remember someone writing about ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ was, ‘This seems like the first world Quentin Tarantino has ever created that he would like to live in’ and there’s that aspect; I loved the character of Cliff Booth,” Tarantino said. “I loved the way Brad played him, and there was this aspect of him as a paperback hero. I could see like a paperback series with Cliff Booth getting involved in this adventure or that adventure or something like that.”
While other plot details cannot be spoiled, the opening sequence showcases Tarantino’s distinguished writing style and visually the Hollywood of 1977 is, in true Fincher style, dark and brooding.
The Netflix film also stars Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Peter Weller and is set to premiere in Imax theaters on November 25, before streaming on December 23.
The evening began with Tarantino introducing the film and sharing that he had not seen the film in this theater.
In the Q&A, Tarantino explained how he spoke with Burt Reynolds about playing the character George Spahn. Tarantino recalls, “He said yes and we became friends, but he passed away before we could make the movie. But we were able to rehearse with him and read the script with him, so actually the last performance Burt Reynolds ever gave was as George Spahn in reading the script.”
The character would be played by Bruce Dern.
He also spoke about his upcoming play “The Popinjay Cavalier”, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen and will premiere in London’s West End next year. “I’m not going to talk about it much, but our previews are in February. In November we’ll start rehearsals.” He went on to say, “I’m just a writer and that’s kind of what I do. I’m always writing.”
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