Netflix Eyes Big-Screen Rollout for David Fincher's The Adventures of Cliff Booth in Summer 2026

Netflix might actually put a David Fincher movie on a lot of screens. Yes, that Netflix. The streamer has been leaning a little harder into theaters lately, and the next swing could be The Adventures of Cliff Booth, a follow-up to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that is currently aiming for summer 2026.

Netflix + AMC are playing nice (finally)

After years of not getting along, Netflix and AMC Theatres seem to be on better terms, which opens up some real options for wider releases. Variety says Netflix is considering a 'robust rollout' for The Adventures of Cliff Booth. Translation: not just a token week in New York and LA. That lines up with Netflix slowly warming to theatrical windows for select prestige plays, like the upcoming Guillermo del Toro Frankenstein.

So what is this Cliff Booth movie?

Think of it as a sequel/companion to Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Brad Pitt is back as Cliff Booth, only now the former stuntman is shifting into life as a Hollywood fixer. The project has an interesting origin story: it grew out of a script Tarantino was developing as his tenth (and final) film. Pitt loved the Cliff material and asked Tarantino if he would let someone else take the wheel. Tarantino said it depended on who. Enter David Fincher, who got the green light from Tarantino pretty quickly.

Cast check

• Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth
• Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
• Elizabeth Debicki
• Scott Caan
• Carla Gugino

There were rumblings that Timothy Olyphant would reprise James Stacy, but he later walked that back.

How wide could this go?

Nothing is locked yet. The plan is summer 2026, but Netflix tends to decide the exact theatrical footprint much closer to release. One theater owner told Variety:

'Netflix isn’t going to announce a theatrical slate but will be selective when they have something special, which is what everyone wanted.'

Tarantino himself sounded pretty pragmatic earlier this year about how far Netflix would go with this one:

'It’s not their business model... I wouldn’t be surprised if they came out with a two-week release of it, at least limited to some degree. And then I think at least as far as the big cities are concerned, they’ll probably have screenings... They’re probably gonna want it to do good in Oscars.'

My read

I would love a real big-screen push for this. Netflix has made some excellent movies that barely reached most people in theaters. The limited runs rarely make it to my local spots, and this one feels tailor-made for an audience that wants to hear the laughs and gasps together. Will Netflix actually go big? The 'robust rollout' talk is encouraging, but I’ll believe it when showtimes pop up outside the coasts. For now: summer 2026 is the target, Fincher is in the chair, Pitt is back as Cliff, and the pieces are there if Netflix wants to play it wide.