Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Will Score David Fincher's Cliff Booth Film

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross will score David Fincher's "The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth," their sixth film with the director. The news broke not through a press release but on the movie's poster — an unusually quiet way for a studio to confirm an Oscar-winning composer pairing.

The film arrives in IMAX exclusively on November 25, running two weeks before it streams on Netflix from December 23. That windowed release — big-format theatrical first, streaming second — signals Netflix's continued interest in event-style launches for prestige titles.

How the Fincher partnership works

Reznor and Ross first scored a Fincher film with 2010's "The Social Network." That score won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for best original score, and it effectively launched the Nine Inch Nails principals as film composers. Since then, they've scored every Fincher feature:

• "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" (2011)
• "Gone Girl" (2014)
• "Mank" (2020)
• "The Killer" (2023)

The "Dragon Tattoo" score also earned them a Grammy in 2013, for best score soundtrack for visual media.

Who are Reznor and Ross beyond Fincher?

The duo's filmography stretches well past one director. Their credits include "Patriots Day," "Soul," "Challengers," "Bird Box" and "Queer." The partnership itself predates their Hollywood careers: Ross has worked with Reznor since 2002, beginning with the long-gestating project Tapeworm, and he has contributed to numerous Nine Inch Nails releases.

In practice, that means the Cliff Booth score extends a working relationship now more than two decades old — one that moved from bandmates to award-winning film composers.

What is the film actually about?

"The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth" spins off from 2019's "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and centers on Brad Pitt's title character. Quentin Tarantino wrote the screenplay. The story picks up eight years after the events of "Hollywood," and the ensemble cast includes Elizabeth Debicki, Scott Caan, Carla Gugino, Timothy Olyphant and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

What does this change for audiences?

Not much about the film's plot — but a lot about its texture. Reznor and Ross tend toward atmospheric, electronic-leaning scores, and Fincher has used them on every project since 2010 for a reason. Their involvement suggests the Cliff Booth spin-off will carry the same controlled, tonally dark sound that shaped "Gone Girl" and "The Killer," even with Tarantino's name on the script.

The real test comes November 25, when the IMAX run starts and listeners can judge whether the pairing survives the jump from Tarantino's Hollywood to Fincher's.