Brad Pitt blindsided Super Bowl audiences Sunday night when Netflix unveiled a surprise trailer for “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” a sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s acclaimed 2019 film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” The 62-year-old actor returns to the stuntman role that earned him his first Oscar as an actor, marking an unexpected revival of one of his most celebrated performances.
The one-minute teaser caught viewers off guard during Super Bowl LX, confirming that Pitt will reprise his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Cliff Booth. Tarantino wrote the script for the sequel but opted to give David Fincher the reins to direct, as the original “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” filmmaker continues his hunt for his 10th and final film.
“I don’t possess many talents, but I know better than to get in the way of a good story,” Pitt’s Cliff Booth says in the teaser, delivering the character’s signature laid-back charisma.
The short teaser was set to retro music and showed Cliff kicking back at a bar, walking behind the scenes of a film set, and behind the wheel of a derby car on a dirt race track. The footage included shots of nude women, cigarettes, middle fingers, guns, and people cursing—all playfully censored in a cheeky animation gag. In one scene, Booth places an Oscar trophy on his desk, a nod to Pitt’s real-life win for the original film.
The trailer featured Elizabeth Debicki opposite Pitt, with the actress playing a character who brings up events from the first film. In “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton—the Hollywood actor he doubled for on screen, played by Leonardo DiCaprio—tangled with the Manson Family in Tarantino’s revisionist take on late 1960s Los Angeles. The sequel picks up in the 1970s, with DiCaprio’s Dalton not expected to return.
Also spotted in the trailer were Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Holt McCallany, and JB Tadena. Timothy Olyphant will reprise his role as western actor James Stacy from the original film. The teaser hasn’t been officially released online yet, though copies continue to spread on social media.
Debicki recently spoke about the production at the Sundance Film Festival in January, expressing enthusiasm for the project. “I just wrapped on Fincher’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel, which was just such a dream to make,” Debicki told PEOPLE. “We shot it for nearly six months in L.A., and I just adored working with David.”
The Cliff Booth role won Pitt his second Academy Award but his first in an acting category at the 2020 Oscars ceremony. He previously won for producing “12 Years a Slave” in 2014. The original “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” earned 10 Oscar nominations and won two awards: Best Production Design alongside Pitt’s Best Supporting Actor trophy.
The collaboration between Tarantino and Fincher represents a meeting of two of Hollywood’s most distinctive directorial voices. While Tarantino created the character and world of Cliff Booth, Fincher brings his own meticulous visual style to the sequel. The project reunites Pitt with Fincher for the first time since The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), following their collaborations on Se7en (1995) and Fight Club (1999). Frequent Fincher collaborator Erik Messerschmidt serves as the film’s director of photography. Tarantino serves as a producer alongside Pitt, David Heyman, Ceán Chaffin, and Stacey Sher.
For Pitt, the return to Cliff Booth marks a significant moment in a career where he has often supported other leading men. Despite his A-list status, Pitt has frequently appeared in supporting roles, backing performers like DiCaprio, George Clooney, and Ed Norton in various projects. The sequel places him squarely in the spotlight.
Netflix will release “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” later this year, though the streaming service has not announced a specific release date. The Super Bowl trailer drop represents a major marketing investment for the platform, securing one of advertising’s most expensive and visible slots to announce the project.
The sequel joins a crowded field of high-profile releases advertised during the game, including Steven Spielberg’s UFO film “Disclosure Day,” “Scream 7” featuring the return of Neve Campbell, and an ad for “Mandalorian and Grogu.”
The surprise announcement—keeping the sequel under wraps until the Super Bowl reveal—generated significant buzz, with fans expressing excitement about Pitt’s return to the role.
With the film shot entirely on location in Los Angeles and principal photography wrapped on January 15, 2026, audiences can expect “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” to arrive on Netflix in the coming months. The streaming platform’s willingness to invest in a major Super Bowl spot signals confidence in the sequel’s potential to capture audience attention and build on the success of its Oscar-winning predecessor.