‘The Adventures Of Cliff Booth’: Netflix Spent Hefty $80M On Above-The-Line Fees For $200M Brad Pitt-Led Sequel [Report]

Netflix isn’t exactly known for being thrifty with its high-profile film projects, and according to a report from the industry outlet Puck News, when it came to the sequel to “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” they also spent a pretty penny on upfront above-the-line fees to screenwriter Quentin Tarantino, director David Fincher, and star Brad Pitt for “The Adventures of Cliff Booth.”

In the outlet’s reporting, they break down how a hefty $80 million was spent between the trio of creatives, before money was spent on actually making the highly anticipated sequel to the Tarantino film that earned Pitt a Best Supporting Actor Oscar statue.

READ MORE: Quentin Tarantino Teams Up With Sylvester Stallone To Co-Direct 6-Episode 1930s Gangster Drama Series [Report]

Here is Puck’s breakdown on how that $80 million was spent: “Brad Pitt is making $40 million to star and produce, per several sources; director David Fincher is getting $20 million, and writer-producer Quentin Tarantino was paid more than $20 million for a one-picture license to make the movie from his script (Tarantino always retains ownership of his material).”

Adding that those fees couldn’t be put toward the California tax rebates (a percentage of the budget is reimbursed to the studio using state tax dollars) to shoot in the state (that wouldn’t have been the case had they shot in the United Kingdom, which wouldn’t make sense given the film’s setting), as there have been calls to boost incentives to keep productions actually in “Hollywood.” This would obviously suggest that the movie has blown past the $120 million-mark for production costs (period movies tend to cost a lot more than ones set in the present), and would explain the $200 million budget confirmed by Tarantino.

We should mention that upfront fees are not uncommon with streaming projects like “The Adventures of Cliff Booth,” because backend/points deals (usually fees based on how much a film earns at the box office) are harder to justify without box office revenue being a factor in their modern profit model (mostly based on subscriptions and keeping eyeballs watching their app). What Netflix spends on these kinds of projects isn’t a new revelation after movies with mega-level budgets over $200 million like “Red Notice,” “The Gray Man,” and “The Electric State” had their own upfront deals to lure splashy marketable talent in front and behind the camera.

Others among the cast for the new installment set during the 1970s, including Yahya Abdul Mateen II, Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Holt McCallany, Karren Karagulian, and Timothy Olyphant, had teased a potential return as well.

Despite Netflix promoting the upcoming movie back during the Super Bowl in February, we’re still waiting for a concrete release date on the streaming service after rumblings of an August/Summer release for “The Adventures of Cliff Booth” and whether we’ll be getting a small theatrical window on top of that (fingers crossed!). Many high-profile films from the streamer have landed theatrical releases, in the hopes of awards consideration and adhering to the wishes of filmmakers, but we don’t know for sure if it’ll happen with this one.

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Stay tuned, as we’ll keep abreast of what is happening with the Fincher/Tarantino project.