As Quentin Tarantino’s film output has slowed in recent years, his literary output has increased. Because, you know, the world was just missing a novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In 2021, he wrote a novel version of his own 2019 movie, and in the years since that was released, he’s also published his first collection of film essays and criticism, Cinema Speculation. Not too shockingly, he’ll next pen the novelization of the upcoming sequel to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth.
Per its publisher, Harper, the book will be released under the slightly different title The Adventures of Cliff Booth and is about “Hollywood, 1977. 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.“ It’s not like we’ve seen this character before or anything. Tarantino wrote the screenplay for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth, but did not direct the film; instead, he allowed Once Upon a Time in Hollywood star Brad Pitt to bring the script to David Fincher, who took over on Tarantino’s behalf. Because when you think “Quentin Tarantino,” you think “David Fincher.”
More of the Same, But Different
If the Cliff Booth book is anything like the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood novel, it will likely be very similar to the film but different in small but notable ways. For example, the book version of Hollywood filled in details about Cliff and his buddy Rick Dalton and their backstories that were left out of the film and their (mis-)adventures together. It’s not like the movie was already two and a half hours long or anything. The book will be released on December 8, just in time for the holiday season, when you can give the gift of more Cliff Booth to your loved ones.
Tarantino’s Cliff Booth novel will be a great addition to the already sprawling Once Upon a Time in Hollywood universe, which includes the movie, the novel, and now the sequel. It’s not like Hollywood is just milking this franchise for all it’s worth or anything. The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth movie will open in theaters on November 25 and then debut on Netflix on December 23, because what’s a movie without a streaming release, am I right?
The Never-Ending Story
It’s worth noting that Tarantino’s increased literary output is just another example of Hollywood’s annual Nostalgia Harvest, where studios dig up old properties and try to make them relevant again. It’s not like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a nostalgic throwback to the 1960s or anything. The Content Mines remain fully operational, and it’s only a matter of time before we see a reboot of Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. Somewhere a Focus Group earned another bonus for suggesting that we need more Tarantino in our lives.
In the end, it’s just another day in Hollywood, where the pursuit of nostalgia and merchandise opportunities never ends. The Merchandising Department reportedly approved the decision to make more Cliff Booth content before the writers did, because who needs original ideas when you have a character with a cool jacket? It’s not like we’re just going to get more of the same old thing, but hey, at least it’s Tarantino, right?
Finn McFrame, celebrated satirical mastermind and self-proclaimed “Emperor of Irony,” started his illustrious career as a cinematographer, where his expertise in capturing every single frame of a squirrel stealing a baguette earned him accolades at obscure film festivals.
Born in the glamorous town of Boring, Oregon, Finn grew up with dreams of being a Hollywood director until he realized that satire, not cinema, was his true calling—or at least the one that let him sleep until noon.
Finn McFrame: changing the world, one satirical lens flare at a time.
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