We have a good news/bad news situation for those of you eagerly awaiting Quentin Tarantino's return to the western genre. The good news is that THE HATEFUL EIGHT is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day! The bad news, is that you can only see it in 70mm. At least, if you want to see it in 2015.
We've heard that Tarantino and Panavision were working hard to outfit 50 theaters across the country with 70mm projectors in order to display THE HATEFUL EIGHT in the highest possible quality. After all, if you take the effort to shoot a film with Ultra Panavision 70mm anamorphic lenses, you want to get your money's worth! As an added incentive to bring audiences to these screenings, the movie will be premiering ONLY in 70mm theaters on December 25th. All the other theaters will receive a digital copy to project on January 8th, a full two weeks later.
I understand that they want to create a need for people to drive out of their way for the 70mm experience (as if that alone isn't enough), but I can't help but think about the fans who wont be in the vicinity of a 70mm-capable theater. We haven't received a list yet of which theaters will outfitted, but we'll be sure to list 'em as soon as we know. Cross your fingers if you don't live near a major city.
THE HATEFUL EIGHT will hit 70mm on December 25th, then everywhere else on January 8, 2016.