Tarantino says he felt he let down Brad Pitt by not directing Cliff Booth sequel himself

Quentin Tarantino says he only had one person in mind when he stepped away from a sequel to "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood": Brad Pitt. Per Variety, Tarantino told Empire magazine, "[Pitt] was the one I felt I was really letting down when I didn’t do it. I felt bad about that."

Pitt won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing stuntman Cliff Booth in the 2019 film and reportedly wanted to continue the character's story. Tarantino wrote the script, a Netflix film called "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" set for IMAX release on November 25, but decided it would not be his final directorial effort.

According to the report, Pitt was "disappointed" he wouldn't be playing Booth again, which led director David Fincher to step in. Tarantino says he was shocked when he heard Fincher, who has directed Pitt in multiple films, was interested. "You could have knocked me over with a feather," he said.

Tarantino claims he was initially worried about scaring Fincher off with his excitement, comparing the early talks to a nervous suitor. He called it "wonderful" that a director of Fincher's caliber would dedicate over a year to his material.

The sequel jumps from 1969 to 1977, with Cliff Booth now working as a Hollywood studio fixer. In the same interview, Fincher praised Pitt's deep connection to the character, saying the actor could withstand any directorial questioning because "Brad knew who the guy was."