Netflix stole the show at Super Bowl LX, not with some brand new blockbuster, but with a seriously slick and stylish 1 minute teaser for The Adventures of Cliff Booth. The surprise preview confirms that Brad Pitt is back as Cliff, this time 8 years after the crazy, bloody finale of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The thing is, the new film is set in 1977 and not 1969. The news that Quentin Tarantino is providing the script but letting David Fincher take the director's chair marks a big change in the "Tarantino universe" - we've not seen Brad Pitt and David Fincher work together since, I think, 2008.
The teaser itself gives us a darker, cosier feel that is so quintessentially Fincher, all the more so because it shows a grittier LA in 1977. According to what's been reported in the trade papers, Cliff Booth is now out from under Rick Dalton's shadow and is working as some sort of Hollywood "fixer". The teaser leans heavily into this tough-guy vibe and gives us a real sense of boothy dealing with the messy side of the film industry, all while nursing a badly battered knee and maintaining that trademark cool.
The teaser was a real feast of 70s details; it was amazing to see some quintessential Fincher aesthetic on show. There was even a great meta joke about Brad's real-life success as Cliff putting an Oscar on his desk, and a playfully old-school censorship gag where they crudely scratched out all the naughty bits with film artifacts. Fans also spotted a quick glimpse of the classic Big Kahuna Burger sign - it wasn't just the director that had changed, it's as if the whole "universe" remained the same
The one thing that stands out is that the teaser didn't include any sign of Leonardo DiCaprio. But the cast that is there is bloody fantastic - Elizabeth Debicki and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II are up to big things as two key players in Booth's new fixer life. And then there are Carla Gugino, Holt McCallany and Timothy Olyphant (who is reprising his role as James Stacy) - it's a seriously big name cast and one that just gets bigger every day. With a budget of 200 million and a release date on Netflix slated for later in 2026, this is being seen as the streamer's "front runner" in terms of awards for the next cycle.