Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is getting a new novelization, courtesy of its writer and director Quentin Tarantino, and a new trailer released to coincide with the book's official release date offers never-before-seen scenes from the film. The novelization will be available courtesy of Harper Perennial on June 29.
In the book's official trailer, narrated by Kurt Russell (who appears in the film as both its narrator and stuntman Randy Miller), familiar scenes from the 2019 movie are interspersed with new footage that wasn't included in the original theatrical cut — like a brief glimpse of Dakota Fanning as Squeaky Fromme, as well as an extended look at Damon Herriman as Charles Manson and a new scene featuring Leonardo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton on the phone with his young costar, Trudi Fraser (Julia Butters).
In a recent interview on the Pure Cinema podcast, Tarantino revealed that the novelization would also provide a deep dive into the backstory of stuntman Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt in the film:
"In the movie, Cliff is a real enigma, you're kind of like, what's this guy's deal? And one of the things in the book is, there's these isolated chapters that tell you, like, this whole chapter will be about Cliff's past. It goes back in time to tell you about Cliff at this point in time. And then you go further on with the normal run of the story and there's another chapter that goes back in time and tells you about Cliff's past. And every isolated chapter that's just about Cliff's past is like a weird little pulp novel unto itself starring Cliff."
Once Upon a Time In Hollywood: A Novel will be available starting June 29. The book will initially be released in mass-market paperback, with a hardcover edition to follow this fall. Watch the trailer below: