The Hateful Eight

 

The Hateful Eight is a 2015 American Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, and stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern. The film score was composed by Ennio Morricone.
The film is set some years after the Civil War in Wyoming, and revolves around eight strangers who seek refuge in a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass during a blizzard.
The film's development was announced by Tarantino in November 2013. However, after the script was leaked in January 2014, Tarantino decided to cancel the movie and publish the script as a novel instead. After directing a live read of the leaked script at the United Artists Theater in Los Angeles, Tarantino said that he had changed his mind and was going to film The Hateful Eight.
Filming began on December 8, 2014 near Telluride, Colorado. The film is set for a December 25, 2015 roadshow release in select theaters on a 70 mm film format. A wide digital release is scheduled for January 1, 2016 by The Weinstein Company.

Plot

In post-Civil War Wyoming, John "The Hangman" Ruth (Russell) is escorting fugitive Daisy "The Prisoner" Domergue (Leigh) to Red Rock where the latter will face justice for murder. They encounter another bounty hunter named Major Marquis "The Bounty Hunter" Warren (Jackson) and Chris "The Sheriff" Mannix (Goggins). A blizzard forces the four to take shelter at a stagecoach passover called Minnie's Haberdashery where they encounter four more strangers; Bob "The Mexican" (Bichir), Oswaldo "The Little Man" Mobray (Roth), Joe "The Cow Puncher" Gage (Madsen), and ex-General Sanford "The Confederate" Smithers (Dern). Through betrayal and deception, the eight strangers soon learn that they may not make it to Red Rock after all.

Cast

As of July 2015, the cast of the film in development included the following "octet" of actors leading the cast, listed in order of screen appearance (per the July report):^[3][4][5]

• Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, a former black Union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter,^[4][6] "The Bounty Hunter"^[3][7] (Charles Marquis Warren was the first producer of the TV version of Gunsmoke.)
• Kurt Russell as John Ruth, a bounty hunter known for hanging fugitives he captures, "The Hangman"^[3][4][6][8]
• Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy Domergue, a fugitive wanted either dead or alive for murder captured by Ruth,^[3][4] "The Prisoner"^[8]
• Walton Goggins as Chris Mannix, a southern renegade claiming to be Red Rock's new sheriff,^[3][4][6] "The Sheriff"^[9]
• Demián Bichir as Bob, the caretaker of Minnie's Haberdashery,^[4] "The Mexican"^[3][10]
• Tim Roth as Oswaldo Mobray, the hangman of Red Rock,^[4][6] "The Little Man"^[3][11]
• Michael Madsen as Joe Gage, a cow-puncher,^[6] "The Cow Puncher"^[3][4][12]
• Bruce Dern as General Sanford "Sandy" Smithers, a former general of the Confederacy,^[4][6][13] "The Confederate"^[3][13]

In addition the following further roles appear to have been cast, as of January 2015, as follows:

• James Parks^[5][6] as O. B. Jackson, a stagecoach driver^[14]
• Dana Gourrier as Minnie Mink, a former slave and the proprietor of Minnie's Haberdashery^[6]
• Zoë Bell as Six-Horse Judy^[6]
• Lee Horsley^[5] as Ed^[15]
• Gene Jones^[5] as Sweet Dave^[15]
• Keith Jefferson^[5] as Charlie^{[citation needed]}
• Craig Stark^[5] as Chester Smithers
• Belinda Owino^[5] as Gemma^{[citation needed]}
• Channing Tatum^[4][5] as Jody^[16]

In the earlier public reading of the first script, the role of Daisy Domergue had been read by Amber Tamblyn, and the role of Bob, a Frenchman rather than a Mexican, was read by Denis Ménochet;^[6] at the reading, the role of Jody was read by James Remar. Regarding the cast Tarantino has said, "This is a movie where [bigger movie stars] wouldn’t work. It needs to be an ensemble where nobody is more important than anybody else."^[17]

Release

On September 3, 2014, The Weinstein Company acquired the worldwide distribution rights to the film for a fall 2015 release.^[30] TWC would sell the film worldwide but Tarantino was making a deal and demanding to personally approve the global distributors for the film.^[46] In preparation for its release, Tarantino arranged for approximately 100^[47] theatres worldwide to be retrofitted with anamorphic equipped 70 mm film projectors in order to display the film as he intended.^[48][49] The film will be released on December 25, 2015 as a roadshow presentation in 70 mm film format theaters before being released in digital theaters on January 1, 2016.^[50] Both versions of the film will be Tarantino's longest works to date.
Tarantino edited two versions of the film, one for the roadshow version and the other for general release. The roadshow version runs for three hours and two minutes, and includes an overture and intermission, while the general release is six minutes shorter and contains alternate takes of some scenes. Tarantino claims that the general release cut was created as he felt that some of the footage he shot for 70mm would not play well on smaller screens.^[51]
On July 11, 2015, Tarantino and the cast of the film appeared at Comic-Con to promote the film.^[39]