The First Look At Brad Pitt's Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Sequel Aired During The Super Bowl, And There's An Amazing Anniversary Easter Egg

Brad Pitt in the adventures of cliff booth
(Image credit: Netflix)

When it comes to Super Bowl spots for big upcoming movies, most of them are expected. Not only do studios frequently let the press know what’s on the way ahead of time, but there are often early teasers released online that gets fans stoked for what’s to come. That being said, sometimes we are treated to surprises, and tonight we got an amazing one in the form of a first look at director David Fincher’s The Adventures Of Cliff Booth a.k.a. the sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood that is heading to Netflix this year.

In the first few seconds of the spot, it’s not totally clear what audiences are looking at from the first shot, as we simply see Brad Pitt reclining with a pack of frozen peas subbing for an icepack on his knee and a blue scribble seemingly censoring a joint in his mouth, but the identity of the production becomes clear as we hear the voice of Elizabeth Debecki: “So you helped Rick subdue those hippie intruders?” Rick, of course, is none other than Rick Dalton, and “those hippie intruders” were none other than Charles Manson’s cronies sent to kill Sharon Tate and her friends. The one and only Cliff Booth explains that he knows better than to get in the way of a true story, and the preview is off to the races as a shotgun explosion of style.

It’s an awesome and unexpected preview of one of the year’s most anticipated movies, but what makes it even better is when you realize the significance of today’s date. While the Super Bowl is being played on February 8 because it aligned with the schedule of the National Football League, today also just so happens to be 57th anniversary of the day that Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth drove from the former’s home to meet agent Marvin Schwarz for a drink at the Musso and Frank Grill at the beginning of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood:

once upon a time in hollywood february 8, 1969

(Image credit: Sony)

Would this first trailer for The Adventures Of Cliff Booth have arrived today even if it weren’t Super Bowl Sunday? I have absolutely no idea, but there’s a part of me that likes to think that the answer is yes.

Now let’s get to the bad news: while The Adventures Of Cliff Booth appears to be full of 70s sex, drugs and rock and roll Hollywood-style, we know extremely little about what it is going to be about. And to make matters even worse, it would seem that Netflix is continuing its tradition of not announcing release dates too far in advance, as we presently have no idea when the Fincher film will be made available streaming (all we have is the “Coming Soon” from the end of the Super Bowl spot and knowledge that it’s coming some time in this calendar year). As ever, be sure to stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more info about the exciting upcoming Netflix movie, as we’ll be feasting on every morsel of teaser that is offered.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.

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