Brad Pitt was photographed on a Los Angeles set Sunday morning filming The Adventures of Cliff Booth, the announced sequel to the 2019 film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, reprising the role that won him an Academy Award in 2020.
The actor, 61, was seen in period-inspired costume — an off-white button-up shirt, worn denim jeans and brown shoes — walking past a vintage car and smiling as production assistants worked on set. Photographers reported that a production assistant handed Pitt a cup of coffee as filming continued. David Fincher is serving as director on the sequel, replacing Quentin Tarantino, who wrote and directed the original film.
Timothy Olyphant is listed as reprising his role as James Stacy. The supporting cast for the sequel also includes Holt McCallany, Corey Fogelmanis, Carla Gugino, Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Barry Livingston, JB Tadena, J.E. Burton and Henry Foster Brown, according to casting information available on industry databases.
Pitt earned the Oscar for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Cliff Booth in the original film, a 1969-set drama written and directed by Tarantino that centered on a fading television star and his stunt double. In interviews dating to the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, Tarantino described the sequel’s titular character as a man living in 1977 who had lived a full life without achieving widespread fame. Tarantino said the character’s voice was inspired in part by the second-tier critics he encountered as a young man.
A 2021 novelization tied to Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood expanded on Booth’s background and suggested elements of a sketchier past, which the novel indicated made some industry figures wary of working with him. Tarantino has previously discussed drawing on personal memories and pop-culture ephemera for character details, including work in the adult magazine vending business during his teens.
Fincher’s involvement marks a notable creative shift for the project. Tarantino originated the Cliff Booth character in the 2019 film and has discussed the sequel publicly in interviews and festival appearances since. The 2019 movie won Tarantino an Academy Award for original screenplay; Pitt’s supporting-actor win came in competition with nominees including Tom Hanks, Anthony Hopkins, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino.
On-set activity in Los Angeles on Sunday included period vehicles and wardrobe consistent with the sequel’s late-1970s setting. Production representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Filming of the sequel follows industry trends in which established intellectual property and legacy characters are revisited by new creative teams. For the cast and crew, the project reunites Pitt with actors and technicians familiar to audiences from the original film while introducing additional performers to the franchise.