While I loved Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, this new Netflix spinoff film is a bad idea

Certain directors have shaped my love of movies, and Quentin Tarantino is one of them. I think if it weren’t for his films, I wouldn’t have such a deep appreciation for great storytelling, well-choreographed action, and cinematography. One of my favorites is Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a film that was really well received.

However, it’s been confirmed that a sequel film, The Further Mid-Adventures of Cliff Booth, is coming to Netflix and is directed by David Fincher (who’s had an original on Netflix before). If you want to see the trailer, check it out below:

But as interesting as this looks, I…don’t really think this is a great idea, as much as I loved the first. Here are the real reasons why, even though people are excited about it.

The core film thrives on chemistry

One of the biggest reasons I think this sequel film is unnecessary is that I don’t think it’ll do as well because half of the core duo is missing. A big reason many people loved Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is that Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt had a heck of a fun time on set together, and you can tell from their chemistry. Their scenes together were fantastic.

I think that when you take out a part of that, with DiCaprio not returning as Rick Dalton, it really takes away a core aspect of what made the first movie so great. Sure, Pitt is back as Cliff Booth, but it just doesn’t feel the same because his scenes worked so well with DiCaprio.

Only a few of his solo scenes were really captivating, and now he’s going to have a whole movie starring him, which doesn’t really feel…right.

Tarantino doesn’t do sequels often

The only sequel Tarantino has actively made is Kill Bill Vol. 2, and we can all agree the second wasn't as good as the first (even if I do love both films). And I really think that will be the same with this.

At the same time, Tarantino isn’t directing The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth. David Fincher gets that honor, as mentioned above. Tarantino only wrote the sequel. But that makes me even more nervous.

I’m not sure if any of you have seen Fincher’s movies, but they're tonally very different from Tarantino. Often, Fincher’s films have mind-bending twists, surrealist action, and other moments that make you want to rewind and figure out the deeper meaning behind what you just saw. Tarantino… doesn’t really do that. His stories are great, don’t get me wrong. But it’s not like Fincher, where it feels like half of his stuff has double meanings.

Having Fincher as the director but Tarantino as the writer feels like it will create big tonal differences between how the film looks and what the characters say. A person like Cliff Booth doesn’t feel like it should be in a David Fincher film, for various reasons. And I really do think that’s going to cause issues with the reception of this movie in comparison to the first.

I think the Netflix release won't help

I like Netflix. I really do. But when it comes to serious movies, the streamer can’t seem to ever get it completely right. I feel that there have been so many times when I’ve been really looking forward to a film or new television show, but when I find out Netflix is adapting it, I get sad.

The reason is that Netflix tends to cut corners a lot in how their shows or movies look, budget-wise, etc. Sometimes that means the story isn’t adapted as well, or things get lost in translation from the script to the screen. Either way, some films deliver, but more often than not, a lot of them fall off.

I think because this is releasing on Netflix, it’ll get forgotten pretty quickly. Yes, the film has a two-week IMAX release, but let’s be real—are we really going to spend the money to see it in IMAX, of all places? Sure, I would on a regular movie screen, but IMAX is so expensive and should be saved for movies that deserve it, like The Odyssey. I don’t know if this movie would qualify.

I don’t know; I just don’t have a super great feeling about this one. I hope I’m wrong. I sincerely do.

The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth will be released in IMAX theaters for two weeks on Nov. 25, 2026. After that, it will premiere on Netflix on Dec. 23, 2026.

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