Skip to main content

Disney's imperialistic theater takeover has Tarantino in fits on Stern

Quentin Tarantino wearing sunglasses.
Andrea Raffin / Shutterstock.com
Quentin Tarantino has been excited about the fact that his latest movie, The Hateful Eight, will appear in numerous theaters in 70mm film, but there seems to be a snag in the plan. During a recent interview on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM, the director claimed that the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles has bowed to pressure from Disney and will not be playing his film during its planned two-week Christmas run.

According to Tarantino, the theater had no choice but to replace The Hateful Eight because, otherwise, Disney wouldn’t have allowed its chain, Arclight Cinemas, to play the latest Star Wars installment at all. Tarantino was frustrated, explaining that Disney has “the biggest movie in the world,” and it’s just “one effing theater” where he’d love to see his film. Having grown up in Los Angeles, the venue was particularly important to him.

Tarantino pointed out how the Cinerama logo even appears in the opening credits of The Hateful Eight, while Deadline notes that the film’s December 7 premiere took place there. Traditionally, films playing at TCL Chinese Theatre aren’t simultaneously screened at the Cinerama Done, given how close the two venues are. However, the two theaters will both play The Force Awakens, according to Tarantino.

The director called the studio’s actions both “mean” and “vindictive” (along with other colorful commentary). He also stressed how Disney had owned Miramax Films when he made Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill movies, and therefore, made millions off of his films.

Stern acknowledged that the studio hadn’t had a chance to have its say on the issue yet, but he spoke directly to Disney CEO Bob Iger and encouraged him to let the Cinerama Dome play The Hateful Eight. Both Stern and Tarantino seemed hopeful, but whether or not anything will change remains to be seen.

Listen to the interview below. (Warning: NSFW.)

Quentin Tarantino On Disney Boxing Out The Hateful Eight - The Howard Stern Show by Howard Stern

Editors' Recommendations

Stephanie Topacio Long
Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…
Disney has already begun fixing the terrible Disney+ interface
disney plus interface fixes improvements changes baby yoda close up from the mandalorian episode 2

Disney+’s lackluster app isn’t going to stop anyone from watching the new streaming service -- we need to get our Baby Yoda fix somehow -- but compared to Netflix, Hulu, and the rest of Disney’s competitors, the platform is woefully incomplete.

Still, it looks like there’s hope for the future. Recently, Disney rolled out a couple of updates to the Disney+ interface that will make taking a break from TV shows and movies a lot easier and less frustrating. Now, partially watched titles contain a progress indicator showing how far into the program you’ve watched, and a “Resume” button appears at the top of program pages.

Read more
Disney+ has a Dolby Atmos problem. Here’s what you need to know
netflix disney plus go together menu mandalorian

When Disney was ramping up the hype machine for its Disney+ streaming service, one of the biggest benefits it touted was the availability of both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on a significant chunk of its banner content. Movies like the Star Wars franchise, which would be presented in 4K HDR for the first time, and shows like the Disney+ original The Mandalorian were also supposed to get the full Dolby treatment.

And this all rings true, too, if you're subscribed to the Disney Bundle. That's the mechanism that gets you Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu for just $14 a month. And Disney's been pushing it extremely hard, for good reason. It's a great deal.

Read more
Disney+ already has more than 10 million subscribers since launch
Disney Plus Lifestyle

Disney+ may have launched with a few technical hiccups, but the Walt Disney Company said that its new streaming service had seen 10 million sign-ups since its launch on Tuesday. 

CNBC reports that Disney announced the official sign-up number on Wednesday. The 10 million figure only counts subscribers who signed up since the November 12 launch date. This figure does include both paying and non-paying subscribers since Disney is offering a free seven-day trial for the streaming service. 

Read more