Exclusive: Leonardo DiCaprio in Talks to Join Brad Pitt in David Fincher's 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Sequel

Hey there, gang!

I wasn’t planning to post this afternoon, but this is “Drop Everything” news.

For weeks, I’ve been holding a story about David Fincher reteaming with Brad Pitt on a mysterious Netflix movie, which I alluded to on Twitter back on March 19.

At the time, I was told it was a sequel to a movie that Fincher didn’t direct.

Sure enough, today, The Playlist broke the news that the project is, in fact, a sequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I’m told this is correct — and that Tarantino himself wrote the script.

If you’ll recall, Tarantino struck a unique deal with Sony for OUATIH — one that saw him retain certain rights, with the copyright reverting to him after 20 years or so.

I’m betting that deal involved Tarantino hanging on to sequel and spinoff rights.

So, now that The Playlist has let the cat out of the bag, I’m told that Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio is also in talks to join Pitt and Fincher.

Netflix is negotiating his deal right now, and it’s taking longer than expected, which may be why The Playlist deemed his appearance “doubtful.”

Apparently, DiCaprio is a little hesitant to sign on for a small role in what is, effectively, a Cliff Booth movie — much to Fincher, Pitt, and Netflix’s great annoyance. Sure, the focus may be shifting from Leo’s Rick Dalton to Pitt’s character, but I doubt DiCaprio is going to leave those guys hanging.

I’m told that Fincher plans to start production this summer, as his Squid Game series remains in development. Dennis Kelly (Utopia) is writing that one, but he isn’t known as the fastest writer, and that left Fincher with a hole in his schedule.

When Tarantino approached him about taking the reins of this project, he was willing to put aside Bitterroot, the Western he was planning to make.

Separately, I understand that DiCaprio still hasn’t closed his deal for an Evel Knievel movie at Netflix. His team continues to negotiate with Paramount, but that Damien Chazelle movie could be in jeopardy if the two sides can’t come to an agreement.

Who knows if incoming Paramount boss David Ellison is even a fan of Evel Knievel?

The Evel Knievel movie is the kind of expensive, auteur-driven project that has started to scare certain studios given all the executive drama surrounding Warner Bros. and its slate, which includes an expensive ($140 million), auteur-driven DiCaprio movie from director Paul Thomas Anderson.

However, Fincher is the golden goose at Netflix, which would have no problem writing a check to secure DiCaprio’s services for a OUATIH sequel, especially since The Playlist reports that Netflix paid $20 million for Tarantino’s script.

So yes, Fincher’s film is more like a Cliff Booth spinoff than a proper sequel, and should DiCaprio’s deal make, he’d likely take on a small role. This isn’t going to be a buddy picture.

Furthermore, Fincher isn’t getting — and didn’t ask for — the IMAX treatment that Greta Gerwig is getting for her Narnia movie. Fincher doesn’t care about a theatrical release and is fine with the film debuting on Netflix.

Like anyone with a semblance of taste, Tarantino is said to be a big fan of Fincher, and I understand that Fincher’s assassin thriller The Killer is Tarantino’s favorite film of the last few years. It’s certainly the one I watched more than any other in 2023.

As for Fincher’s other projects, I’m told he’s no longer involved in the Chinatown prequel that had been percolating at Netflix, where he’s also developing a project with Gone Girl scribe Gillian Flynn under his first-look deal.

Expect to hear more from the trades about this project very soon, but in the meantime, congrats again to The Playlist on breaking this massive scoop!

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