UPDATE: Here’s Empire City Box Office confirming my previous intel. Netflix is going to release ‘Cliff Booth’ with a full on theatrical run in late September or early October.
EARLIER: There’s still a lot we have yet to learn about Netflix and David Fincher’s “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” if that’s even what it’s called, including and especially the release date, which has spawned mixed signals in recent months.
Earlier in the year, Variety had hinted at a summer release, which had everyone circling it for that timeframe. Then, just last month, Deadline reported an August release (before quickly deleting it). Still, “summer” is what most outlets have been reporting, and apparently, that’s just not true.
For a few weeks now, I’ve been asking around about ‘Cliff Booth,’ which Netflix is keeping ultra hush-hush, and one source, a programmer, had told me that it was actually eyeing a splashy premiere at the Venice Film Festival, which didn’t make much sense to me considering the summer release rumor.
Well, now it does.
The Wrap’s insider Drew Taylor, who, given his track record, seems to have good sources inside Netflix, just quoted-tweeted an outlet claiming the rumored August release for ‘Cliff Booth’ by replying: “NOT SUMMER.” I completely believe this, especially given that there has been no marketing for the film. Its teaser, which aired during the Super Bowl, hasn’t even been released online by Netflix. We still don’t have an official cast list or a confirmed title.
It was reported that Netflix was contemplating a “robust rollout” for ‘Cliff Booth,’ a spinoff of Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 original “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” The budget on ‘Cliff Booth’ is said to be north of $200M. The cast includes Brad Pitt, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Corey Fogelmanis, and Karren Karagulian.
Not much is known about the plot, just that it picks up after ‘Once Upon a Time,’ following Pitt’s enigmatic stuntman into a new story set eight years later. Fincher’s go-to DP Erik Messerschmidt is the cinematographer on this one, replacing ‘Hollywood’ DP Robert Richardson.
This is a big movie, and it’d be a real shame if it doesn’t get a proper theatrical rollout from Netflix.