Quentin Tarantino to Publish ‘Cliff Booth’ Novel

Quentin Tarantino is writing a novel version of his “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” spinoff “Cliff Booth.” It will debut later this year, timed to the release of the forthcoming film starring Brad Pitt, who reprises his Oscar-winning role as a longtime stuntman.

Tarantino’s book is titled “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” which differs slightly from the sequel movie’s moniker, “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.” David Fincher is directing the follow-up film for Netflix. Tarantino, who wrote the screenplay, also published a novelization of his 2019 feature “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Tarantino’s latest novel will be published on Dec. 8 by HarperCollins. That’s after “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” lands in Imax theaters on Nov. 25 and ahead of the movie’s Netflix bow on Dec. 23.

“Cliff Booth,” both the novel and movie, take place in Hollywood, 1977 — eight years after the original story. In “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Leonardo DiCaprio and Pitt portray an aging actor and his longtime stunt double who are struggling to find their place in show biz. Paying tribute to the golden age of Hollywood, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” was set in the late 1960s against the backdrop of the Manson family murders, with Margot Robbie playing Sharon Tate, the up-and-coming actress married to director Roman Polanski.

Although plot details for the sequel have been kept under wraps, the novel’s logline teases that “the Swinging Sixties are long gone — but Clifford Booth keeps on keeping on…War hero, stuntman, bartender, cinema projectionist…with the occasional “clandestine services” for his friends…”

Sony released “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” which was a critical and commercial hit. The movie earned more than $400 million at worldwide box office against a $90 million budget, in addition to 10 Oscar nominations and two wins. Netflix is producing the sequel, which carries a $200 million production budget.

Tarantino decided against directing “Cliff Booth” because he’s long expressed a desire to retire after making 10 movies. He’s made nine already — “Pulp Fiction,” “Inglourious Basterds” and “Reservoir Dogs” among them — and he didn’t want a sequel to be his last.

“I love this script, but I’m still walking down the same ground I’ve already walked,” Tarantino said last year on the “The Church of Tarantino” podcast. “It just kind of unenthused me. This last movie, I’ve got to not know what I’m doing again. I’ve got to be in uncharted territory.”