Bruce Lee-Tarantino Controversy: Will Further Misadventures of Cliff Booth Reignite the Debate?

By Christian Zilko — November 6, 2026

Old quarrel back in the spotlight as trailer opens with Bruce Lee reference

The first moments of the new trailer for The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth make it clear the filmmakers want viewers to remember one particular moment from Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Before the trailer mentions Rick Dalton or any of the other bigger plot beats from Tarantino’s 2019 film, an offscreen voice asks, essentially, whether you’ve heard the tale about Bruce Lee getting bested by a stuntman. Another early line in the promo circles back to the same incident, putting that clip — and the debates it provoked — front and center.

What this spin-off is (and isn’t)

Netflix bills the movie as a kind of stand-alone caper built around Brad Pitt’s Oscar-winning Cliff Booth. Directed by David Fincher from a script by Quentin Tarantino, the picture is pitched as a separate adventure rather than a straight sequel: Pitt returns to his Cliff role, while Leonardo DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton either doesn’t appear or is being kept tightly under wraps. Tarantino himself has suggested the tone skews toward the terse, crime-driven feel of Elmore Leonard paperbacks rather than the languid “hangout movie” vibe that defined the original.

Given that repositioning, it’s notable that the marketing leans on the most talked-about snippet of the prior picture. The trailer’s emphasis on the Bruce Lee confrontation — rather than something like Cliff’s pivotal showdown with members of the Manson Family — highlights how that one scene has outlived its place in the story and become shorthand for the controversy surrounding the earlier film.

Recapping the fight that started the argument

For anyone who missed the original: in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Cliff Booth kills time on a television set while Rick Dalton shoots a show. The sequence escalates when Cliff and Bruce Lee (portrayed onscreen by Mike Moh) trade barbs about Lee’s acting and resume, and the conversation turns to a challenge. They exchange blows; each lands a solid hit before the scuffle is broken up, with no definitive victor — though the image of Cliff flinging a martial-arts icon into a car stuck with many viewers.

Family objections and Tarantino’s response

Bruce Lee’s family publicly pushed back after the film’s release. Shannon Lee expressed frustration that the depiction helped fuel a narrative in which her father was reduced to an arrogant bully. She said it felt unfair to cast him as someone who habitually provoked fights, noting that while her father could be passionate and occasionally temperamental, he worked intentionally toward representing Asian men authentically in Hollywood and didn’t advance that cause by belittling stunt performers or boasting about physical dominance.

Tarantino has repeatedly defended his choices. In interviews he argued that his portrayal drew on anecdotes he’d heard from people who knew Lee, including passages in Linda Lee’s early biography that seemed to corroborate some of the braggadocio. He has maintained that the character traits in the film were inspired by real remarks attributed to Lee, and that the scene was rooted in those recollections rather than pure invention.

The dispute resurfaced in other public forums. On The Joe Rogan Experience in 2021, Tarantino reacted angrily to critics of the scene — telling detractors to “suck a dick” — while also saying he understood why a daughter would object to a negative representation of her parent. The blunt retort underscored how emotionally charged the debate has been on both sides.

Why the trailer’s focus matters

More than seven years have passed since the first film premiered. By the time The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth opens in select theaters this month and expands to Netflix in December, many of the original arguments may have quieted or reached a stalemate. Still, the decision to anchor the new trailer in the Bruce Lee moment suggests the filmmakers — or at least the marketing team — expect that the scene will once again attract attention and conversation.

Whether audiences will interpret the renewed emphasis as a provocative creative choice, a calculated publicity play, or something else remains to be seen. But leaning on the controversy-heavy episode instead of other plot elements (like Cliff’s involvement in dispatching members of the Manson Family in the first film) signals that the producers believe that singular clash will draw viewers’ interest — and, perhaps, reignite public debate.

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Claude Merritt

Claude Merritt explores the world of entertainment with a keen eye. From music to film, TV series, and popular culture, he covers celebrity news and American cultural trends with a lively and critical approach.