Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has joined the cast of the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" sequel

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will join Brad Pitt in the sequel to Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood, it is called The Adventures of Cliff Booth.

Deadline first reported that he would join already announced cast members Pitt, Elizabeth Debicki, and Scott Caan in Tarantino's latest project.

It was also previously confirmed that Quentin Tarantino will not direct this time, but will instead give over the keys to David Fincher.

Rumors are circulating that Mateen is portraying a role similar to NFL star-turned-actor Jim Brown. But it's too early to tell if that story is genuine, as is the claim that the film will center on Cliff Booth as a Hollywood fixer.

Tarantino's oeuvre has always included a focus on 1970s Hollywood, as he is greatly influenced by Blaxploitation, action, and B-movies from the era. But Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood is his direct plunge into the 1970s Hollywood industry, revealing stories about the actors and cultural symbols that defined the era.

However, for this sequel, Tarantino allowed Fincher to direct since Fincher has an exclusive arrangement with Netflix, which entails Netflix financing the film as well as releasing it on its platform, Deadline reports. Tarantino, who would never direct a streaming project, remains on board as a writer and presumably executive producer.

Abdul-Mateen II just completed filming on Elegance Bratton's By Any Means and appears in the Netflix series Man on Fire and Disney+'s Marvel series Wonder Man.