Why Leonardo DiCaprio Isn’t Returning For Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s Sequel

Although Leonardo DiCaprio was a huge part of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s success, the star will not reprise his role in the upcoming sequel, The Adventures Of Cliff Booth. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s ending was almost fairy tale-esque in its idealism, offering viewers a sweet slice of alternate history.

Instead of killing Sharon Tate, the Manson murderers were brutally dispatched by Brad Pitt’s stuntman Cliff Booth and Leonardo DiCaprio’s aging matinée idol Rick Dalton, and the pair earned a much-needed career boost by encountering Tate shortly after this ordeal ended. As such, the existence of The Adventures Of Cliff Booth is a curious surprise.

Leonardo DiCaprio Confirmed That He's Not Appearing In Once Upon A Time In Hollywood's Cliff Booth Sequel

Custom Image by Debanjana Chowdhury

Netflix's upcoming Once Upon A Time In Hollywood sequel will follow Pitt’s antihero as he transitions from working as a stuntman and Dalton’s right-hand man into becoming a fixer for Hollywood’s shady underworld. Appropriately enough, this story change comes with an aesthetic shift, as the first trailer for The Adventures of Cliff Booth is both tonally and visually darker.

This is likely because David Fincher directed The Adventures Of Cliff Booth, while its predecessor, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, was directed by Quentin Tarantino. As if that wasn’t a big enough change, DiCaprio also confirmed in an interview that he would not be appearing in the spinoff, contrary to earlier reports.

Speaking to Deadline, the One Battle After Another star said, “There were some talks about it early on… but I’m not in it.” This makes sense on a narrative level, since The Adventures of Cliff Booth’s trailer reveals that Booth is now a criminal fixer instead of a stuntman. As such, he is likely to see less of Dalton.

Who From OUATIH Is Returning For The Adventures Of Cliff Booth (Aside From Brad Pitt)

The pair were inseparable in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, largely because they worked together on a daily basis. Thus, now that The Adventures Of Cliff Booth’s story has changed Booth’s career, it no longer makes sense for him to cross paths with DiCaprio’s movie star so often.

This doesn’t mean that none of Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s stars will return in The Adventures Of Cliff Booth, though. On the contrary, Timothy Olyphant will reprise his role as real-life actor James Stacy, best known for Lancer. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’s sequel, The Adventures Of Cliff Booth, will also star Carla Gugino, Yahya Abduk-Mateen II, and Scott Caan.

Release Date July 26, 2019

Runtime 162 minutes