Regal Cinemas and Cinemark have declined to show Netflix's The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth on their IMAX screens, citing the short theatrical window. The film was planned for a two-week IMAX run starting November 25, then streaming on December 23.
Regal Cinemas and Cinemark have reportedly declined to screen Netflix's The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth on their IMAX screens. Regal and Cinemark, two of America's three biggest chains, have both passed on showing the film in IMAX. The two chains decided to boycott the film, citing the shortened two-week release window. Deadline attributes the decision to the thin two-week release schedule and a competitive Thanksgiving box office.
Regal's stated reasoning
Brooks LeBoeuf, Regal's Senior Vice President of US Content, told TheWrap that shortened theatrical windows have a direct impact on those decisions. He said the shorter windows directly affect how Regal allocates premium screens. He added that Regal will prioritize releases that value theatrical exclusivity, including "The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping," which will have full support in IMAX.
Release plans and screen counts
Netflix had planned an exclusive two-week IMAX theatrical engagement beginning November 25, 2026, ahead of streaming on December 23. The film will stream on Netflix on December 23, following its brief theatrical run.
AMC has about 200 IMAX screens in the U.S., Regal about 100 and Cinemark closer to 20. According to IndieWire, the opt-outs take about 100 Regal IMAX screens and closer to 20 Cinemark screens out of the running. IMAX usually decides what plays on its screens, but because it joined this release late, it let chains opt out. The IMAX engagement is expected to reach approximately 550 screens worldwide, including around 200 in the United States, primarily through AMC and selected independent cinemas. The film will also play some smaller theaters, including Tarantino's New Beverly and, in December, the Vista, both in 35mm.
The film
David Fincher directs the film, and Quentin Tarantino wrote the screenplay as a follow-up to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tarantino passed the project to Fincher after Brad Pitt suggested Fincher as a potential choice. Netflix's official synopsis says Pitt returns as Cliff Booth, with the story set in 1977 in a very different Hollywood. The story takes place eight years after the events of the earlier film, and Booth is now a Hollywood studio fixer. Timothy Olyphant reprises his role as James Stacy.
The cast joining Pitt includes Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Peter Weller, Corey Fogelmanis, JB Tadena and Karren Karagulian. The original Once Upon a Time in Hollywood opened to $41M, Tarantino's highest stateside opening, and made $142.5M domestic and $409.3M worldwide. It won Pitt a Supporting Actor Oscar.
