For those upset that the digital and 35mm presentations of THE HATEFUL EIGHT would be two full weeks after the coveted 70mm roadshow release, you now have one less week to wait, at least in theory. The Weinstein Company has moved up the release of the 35mm and digital versions from January 8th to January 1st. Yep, you can now see the film starting on New Year’s Day, opening (hopefully) wide. Some are already calling this a bad idea though, as the Christmas theater releases are definitely going to clog up showtimes across the country, and this just puts an added strain on the number of available screens.
The supposed 100 70mm prints are still scheduled to hit theaters on Christmas Day though. While the date being moved is apparently confirmed, it does put in question just how many screens the film will open wide on. Weinstein can only throw their weight around so much, and some theaters may not have a choice when it comes to adding yet another movie in an already packed holiday season. Chances are is will open in as many theaters as possible on January 1st, and then truly go wide as originally planned on January 8. The film stars Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Demian Bichir, and Channing Tatum. Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
In THE HATEFUL EIGHT, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…
Source: Deadline