Arguably one of the most exciting aspects of Quentin Tarantino's THE HATEFUL EIGHT was the fact he wrangled famed composer Ennio Morricone into scoring the music for it. The score garnered Morricone an Academy Award nomination, and if things go as planned, it looks like that's not the last score the maestro will compose for Tarantino. In speaking with Deadline, he opened up about the HATEFUL EIGHT process as well as his future plans with the filmmaker.
Ennio Morricone on scoring THE HATEFUL EIGHT and working with Tarantino in the future:
For me this is absolutely not a Western movie. For me, it’s a drama set in a particular moment of the American history, and set in snow-covered landscape, and it’s very rare to see a Western set in that environment. So for me, this is not a Western movie. That’s the reason I didn’t score it as a Western. I really wanted to do something completely different, something unique to break really with the past of the movie scores I had written 40 or 50 years ago.
I know that my music is recognizable because there are some features in my style that are recognizable, but my wish, my aspiration would be to give each director the music he deserves — the music that is completely different from what I have done before.
Tarantino has already told me that there will be a next movie that we are going to make together. I told him that in the future I would like to have much more time. I would like to start working with him even long before in order to have the time to work, to think about the music, and also to exchange more ideas with him about what I am going to score for him. I never ask any director to work with me, but it was Tarantino who told me, ‘OK, there will be a next time.'
I didn't love HATEFUL EIGHT, but I did think Morricone's score for the film hit all the right notes, so to speak. Tarantino was always a filmmaker who relied on previous songs and music to tell his stories, so I'm excited to hear about him working with a composer to flesh out his next film. Here's hoping we won't have to wait too long!
THE HATEFUL EIGHT will hit Blu-ray/DVD later this year.