Netflix Stuns Super Bowl with First Look at ‘The Adventures of Cliff Booth’

Post By DJ Longers
February 9, 2026

The Fixer is Back: Netflix Stuns Super Bowl with First Look at ‘The Adventures of Cliff Booth’

SANTA CLARA, CA — In a night of fumbles and touchdowns, the biggest "play" didn’t even happen on the field. Netflix blindsided the film world during Super Bowl LX yesterday, dropping the first trailer for The Adventures of Cliff Booth—a surprise spin-off to Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 masterpiece Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The 60-second teaser, which immediately ignited a firestorm of "vibes" across social media, confirms that Brad Pitt is returning to his Oscar-winning role. However, in a major creative twist, the directorial reins have been handed to thriller auteur David Fincher, reuniting him with Pitt for the first time since 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

A Fixer in the "Me" Decade

While the original film was a sun-drenched love letter to 1969, The Adventures of Cliff Booth shifts the gears into the gritty, neon-soaked late 1970s. Set roughly eight years after the bloody encounter on Cielo Drive, the trailer reveals a slightly older Booth who has transitioned from a drifting stuntman to a high-level "fixer" for Hollywood studios.

The teaser opens with a direct nod to his past. When an off-screen voice asks if he’s the one who "subdued those hippie intruders," Cliff deadpans with his signature laconic cool:

“Something like that. I don’t possess many talents, but I know better than getting in the way of a good story.”

The Fincher Touch vs. The Tarantino Script

The trailer’s aesthetic is a fascinating hybrid: it retains Tarantino’s pulpy, retro dialogue (he penned the script) but is shot with Fincher’s meticulous, atmospheric precision. The footage is styled with a grainy, scratched-up 35mm look, complete with intentional "censor marks"—squiggly lines and bleeps that humorously cross out cigarettes, drinks, and curse words in a meta-commentary on TV standards.

Fans were also treated to a star-studded new ensemble joining Pitt’s orbit:

Elizabeth Debicki: Featured heavily as a sophisticated new ally (or adversary) walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Cliff through studio backlots.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II: Appearing in a prominent, action-heavy role.
Timothy Olyphant: Reprising his role as actor James Stacy from the original film.
The "Oscar" Cameo: In a cheeky wink to the audience, one shot shows Cliff casually placing an Academy Award statuette on his desk—a meta-tribute to Pitt’s real-life win for playing the character.

The DiCaprio Question

Noticeably absent from the trailer was Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton. While early reports suggested Tarantino had written a cameo for the fading star, industry insiders indicate DiCaprio ultimately opted to sit this one out. The film appears to be a true solo vehicle, exploring the dark underbelly of 1977 Hollywood through Cliff’s weathered eyes.

“Coming Soon”

Produced for a reported $200 million, the film represents Netflix’s biggest bet of the year. While the trailer ended with a vague “Coming Soon” tag, distribution sources suggest a Summer 2026 release, likely following a limited theatrical run.

For a character who famously claimed his "job is to be a shadow," Cliff Booth just stepped into the brightest spotlight in the world.