The release of Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight isn’t going according to plan. Probably because the plan was insanely ambitious.
Infamously averse to digital filmmaking and projection, Tarantino shot Hateful—a western starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, and Jennifer Jason Leigh—on 70mm, the same old-school format used by Christopher Nolan for Interstellar and Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master. But Tarantino went a step further, filming in the ultra-rare aspect ratio Ultra Panavision 70—meaning each frame of Hateful is significantly wider than the average film.
Hateful‘s theatrical release was to be equally unique: As of a few months ago, the plan was for an extended version of the film to play in theaters equipped to project the movie from reels of 70mm film. This “roadshow” engagement was to be featured at 100 theaters nationwide, for two weeks, before Hateful would be allowed to screen digitally.
But outfitting 100 theaters with suitable 70mm projectors—and suitable 70mm projectionists—proved impossible.
