While Star Wars: The Force Awakens is poised to dominate the box office like no other before it this holiday season, those looking for on screen brilliance will have another opportunity in Quentin Tarantino’s latest epic, The Hateful Eight. And what’s more, some lucky film fanatics, will get to see Tarantino’s Western in its intended medium: glorious Ultra Panavision 70mm film.
The Samuel L. Jackson-starring film will open in 100 theaters across 44 markets in the time honored format, prized for its extremely wide viewing angle, which will be the largest 70mm release in 20 years, according to Variety.
Variety reports the markets for the film will include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Washington DC, Houston, Detroit, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Minneapolis, Denver, Miami, Cleveland, Orlando, Sacramento, St. Louis, Portland, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham, Baltimore, San Diego, Nashville, Kansas City, San Antonio, West Palm Beach, Birmingham, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Austin, New Orleans, Providence, Knoxville, Santa Barbara, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.
The producers of The Hateful Eight, The Weinstein Company, spent a year and a half arranging for its release according to the New York Times, as the studio had to find, purchase, and restore several vintage projectors. Theaters were even provided with training on how to operate the projectors. Chapin Cutler, the founder of the company responsible for finding and putting together the projectors, noted that he and the Weinstein Company will also bring projectionists into the theaters if necessary.
“It will be a combination of house staff that we can train, professional projectionists that we can bring in, projectionists that we can find locally, and potentially some technical staff that we’ll bring in,” said Cutler.
It sounds like an expensive endeavor, but for celebrated filmmakers like Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained), studios are willing to concede profit for artistic quality. Other films that have been shown in the format in recent memory include Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, and Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar.
Set in Colorado after the Civil War, The Hateful Eight tells the tale of John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell), his fugitive prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh), another bounty hunter (Jackson), and another man (Walton Goggins) on a dangerous journey full of betrayal and deception. Tim Roth, Demian Bichir, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and other supporting actors will also appear in the ensemble cast.
The 70mm “Roadshow” version of The Hateful Eight will also feature overture, intermission, and additional footage. Here’s a link for cities and showtimes so you can check and see if it’s coming to your favorite theater.
The 70mm release is set for Christmas Day before the film’s wide release on December 31.
