Quentin Tarantino Sets December Release for New Cliff Booth Novel

Quentin Tarantino is returning to the world of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with a second novel centered on Brad Pitt’s stuntman and fixer, Cliff Booth. The Adventures of Cliff Booth will be published by Harper on December 8 in hardcover, ebook and audiobook editions.

A book and film arriving weeks apart

The novel is designed as both a sequel to Tarantino’s 2021 Once Upon a Time in Hollywood book and a literary counterpart to the upcoming Netflix film The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth. That movie is scheduled to open in IMAX theaters on November 25 before moving to Netflix on December 23.

David Fincher is directing from Tarantino’s screenplay, with Pitt returning to the role that earned him the Academy Award for best supporting actor. The new story jumps to Hollywood in 1977, eight years after the setting of the original film. Its premise finds Booth continuing to use the varied skills he developed as a war veteran, stuntman, bartender and projectionist, including discreet work for friends in the industry.

Tarantino expands his publishing chapter

The release continues Tarantino’s increasingly substantial move into books. His first novel did more than reproduce the plot of his 2019 film, adding backstory and reshaping parts of the narrative. He followed it with Cinema Speculation, a nonfiction collection focused on movies of the 1970s.

The timing creates an unusual three-step rollout for the same fictional world: moviegoers can see the IMAX engagement first, readers get the novel less than two weeks later, and Netflix subscribers receive the film before Christmas. HarperCollins will publish the book in North America, while Weidenfeld & Nicolson will handle the simultaneous British edition.

Tarantino is not directing the film, but his authorship of both the screenplay and novel keeps his voice at the center of the project. The closely spaced releases will also give fans a quick opportunity to compare how Cliff Booth’s next chapter changes between page and screen.