Yes, that headline may make you want to check your calendar, and yes, I can confirm that at the time of publishing, it is indeed April 1. However, I can also confirm that this news, unlikely as it may sound, is very real. According to The Playlist, it seems that a sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” starring Brad Pitt as stuntman (and Manson Family nemesis) Cliff Booth is being set up at Netflix. What’s more, although the script for the film (which as of yet is untitled) is written by Tarantino, the movie will be directed by someone else. Not just any someone, however, but a man by the name of David Fincher.

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We here at /Film eagerly chronicled the saga of Tarantino’s post-“Hollywood” plans as it seemed that he was just around the corner from announcing the project which came to be known as “The Movie Critic” as his 10th and (according to his self-imposed 10-movie limit) final film. That project initially seemed to be reuniting Tarantino with Pitt as director and actor, something that wasn’t too surprising given the two having worked together several times in the past. Yet, upon the news of Tarantino abandoning the film, it was revealed that the script may have had some direct ties to “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” and Pitt would be playing Cliff Booth once again.

This latest development seems to indicate that this new Fincher/Tarantino film is indeed either “The Movie Critic” or some version of it. Whatever this film ends up being, its status as a “Hollywood” sequel is no longer in doubt, as Jeff Sneider has claimed that Leonardo DiCaprio (who portrayed Rick Dalton in the film) is in talks to join Pitt and Fincher on the film, which will be produced for Fincher’s home turf of Netflix. Whether Pitt and DiCaprio will be the co-leads of the film or just Pitt (or neither, perhaps?), one thing is for certain: Rick Dalton lives!

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For Fincher fiends, Tarantino truthers, and cinephiles of a certain age, this news is rather seismic. When it comes to Fincher, whose cinematic output has declined in recent years, it’s wonderful to see him jump back into making a feature just two years after dropping “The Killer” in 2023. Although the wistful, alternate-reality vibes of “Hollywood” aren’t entirely the auteur’s thing, he’s certainly proven himself interested in fictionalized Hollywood histories, thanks to 2020’s “Mank.” It’s especially exciting to see Fincher and Pitt team up again, as they haven’t worked together as director and actor since 2008’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

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For Tarantino heads, this development is even bigger. Not only will we be getting to see “The Movie Critic” go before cameras after all (something which I predicted would happen), but we’re finally getting a direct sequel to a couple of Tarantino’s characters, something which the filmmaker has threatened to pursue as far back as the long-fabled “The Vega Brothers.” Even though some Tarantino characters have turned up in multiple films (notably Michael Keaton’s Ray Nicolette and Michael Parks’ Earl McGraw) and many others have been referenced throughout his movies, this project marks the first time we’ll see further adventures of his protagonists.

Given Tarantino’s insistence on running his career his way, this news might seem bizarre on paper, even with the understanding that he’s clearly been heavily inspired by his “Hollywood” characters in recent years, seen not only in his writing “The Movie Critic” but the “Hollywood” novelization. Yet this project may not just be a byproduct of his “10 movies and out” plan for himself, as others are speculating. It may actually be part of his farewell plan: after all, his career began with the likes of Oliver Stone and Tony Scott making movies from his early screenplays. Perhaps Tarantino thinks he should be going out in similar fashion to how he came in. This Fincher/Pitt/DiCaprio project may end up being a one-off, but maybe we shouldn’t be surprised if Paul Thomas Anderson’s next movie turns out to be a Tarantino script, too. Whatever happens with the “Hollywood” follow-up, we don’t have too long to wait, as sources are saying that shooting on the film will begin this summer. More as it develops!

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