Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth Movie Just Became Netflix’s Most Important Experiment

Brad Pitt’s new movie has just become Netflix’s most important experiment. Before The Adventures of Cliff Booth streams on Netflix, it will head to theaters in a landmark deal for the streamer.

Netflix announced that The Adventures of Cliff Booth will receive an exclusive two-week run in Imax theaters starting November 25, 2026. After the theatrical run, the Cliff Booth movie will premiere on Netflix on December 23, 2026.

Pitt reprises his Oscar-winning role of Cliff Booth from Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Plot details are scarce, but the Netflix logline reads, “It’s 1977, and it’s a very different Hollywood.” Joining Pitt in the ensemble are Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, Matt Groove, JB Tadena, Corey Fogelmanis, and Karren Karagulian. David Fincher directs from a screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino. Pitt and Ceán Chaffin will produce.

Why the Imax deal for The Adventures of Cliff Booth will change Netflix forever

For years, Netflix resisted theatrical releases for the overwhelming majority of its movies. The only films that received theatrical releases were prestige plays to qualify for Oscars or one-off stunts, like KPop Demon Hunters.

Now, Netflix has softened its stance on theaters with The Adventures of Cliff Booth and Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, which will release in theaters and in Imax on February 12, 2027, before its Netflix premiere on April 2, 2027.

There have been many filmmakers who have resisted directing movies for Netflix. Directors like Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg refuse to make direct-to-streaming movies. Several actors share the same sentiment as these prolific filmmakers. Elizabeth Olsen told InStyle that she will only sign onto a film if it receives a theatrical release.

“If a movie is made independently and only sells to a streamer, thenfine,” Olsen said. “But I don’t want to make something where that’s the end-all.”

While Netflix will continue to make direct-to-streaming movies, the Imax deal for the Cliff Booth movie could become a common middle ground for the studio’s event films with A-list talent and prolific filmmakers. While this deal might not attract Nolan and Spielberg to direct movies, the studio might get that next level of filmmaker, like Fincher and Gerwig, to make a movie for Netflix.

Netflix is trying to make money off its movies. If the Cliff Booth movie, which reportedly has a budget of around $200 million, does well at the box office, Netflix should be inclined to bring more of its blockbusters to theaters.