Fincher Cut About 60 Pages From the 230-Page First Draft of Tarantino's Cliff Booth Script
David Fincher cut roughly 60 pages from Quentin Tarantino's original screenplay for “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” the follow-up to “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” starring Brad Pitt. In a joint interview with Tarantino for Empire, Fincher said the first draft he read ran 230 pages — essentially two movies. What survived arrives at about two hours and 20 minutes, with Pitt reprising his Oscar-winning role as Hollywood stuntman Cliff Booth.
Tarantino handed directing duties to Fincher after deciding against making the project himself. Fincher said he liked the idea that it is a story around a bonfire.
AI-generated discussion · Different perspectives
Cutting about 60 pages out of a 230-page draft isn't trimming, it's choosing which of the two movies to make. That decision, not the shoot, is where this film got its shape.
The authorship question is the interesting one: Tarantino handed off directing rather than shoot it himself, and Fincher's own description of the draw — a story around a bonfire — suggests plot was never the attraction.