Despite earning three Oscar nominations and one win, The Hateful Eight is among the lowest-rated films of his career. With a current IMDB rating of 7.8/10, 68/100 Metascore, and 75% Rotten Tomatoes score, only Deathproof ranks lower than any of his Tarantino's movies to date.
Released in 2015, The Hateful Eight concerns an octet of strangers in 1877 Colorado who are holed up in a Haberdashery during a violent winter blizzard. When a murder takes place inside the walls, a race to find the culprit ensues. With the film turning five years old this December, here are 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts about the Making of The Hateful Eight.
The Original Script Got Leaked
In 2014, a draft of Tarantino's script for The Hateful Eight was leaked online, leading to a major lawsuit on the website who published it. Tarantino was so distraught at the thought of having his story spoiled that he opted out of making the movie altogether and considered releasing it as a novel instead.
However, once a table reading of the script was organized, Tarantino saw the excitement of all the actors involved. When longtime collaborator Samuel L. Jackson persuaded him to make the movie despite the leak, Tarantino agreed. He did, however, change the ending.
The Film Was Shot In Ultra Panavision 70mm
For the size, scale, and scope of the American west, Tarantino opted to film The Hateful Eight in Ultra Panavision 70mm film. He also shot parts of the movie in 65mm analog film stock. The film was the first to shoot in this format in 50 years since the release of Khartoum in 1966. It's just the eleventh film in the history of cinema to use Ultra Panavision 70mm.
When it came time to exhibiting the film, theaters had to be retrofitted with the proper projectors to accommodate the 70mm film stock. A total of 96 theaters were altered at a rough cost of $8-10 million.
Real & Fake Snow Was Used For The Blizzards
Filming primarily took place in the mountains of Colorado during the wintertime. However, for the scenes depicting the whiteout blizzard, the production crew kept running into good weather.
In order to simulate a blizzard, the crew employed large fans, starch, and sun-blocking visors. However, when the fake snow melted away quickly, the production was forced to temporarily shut down. Tarantino, Kurt Russell, and others on set made a plea to the snow gods for a storm to come, which was granted a couple of days later.
Ennio Morricone Used Old & New Scores For The Film
After scoring Tarantino's previous film Django Unchained, the unpleasant experience made legendary composer Ennio Morricone publicly state he'd never work with the director again. But as fate would have it, he ended up working with Tarantino again, and his work earned him an Oscar win for his Original Score.
In addition to composing original pieces of music for the film, Tarantino also incorporated bits of Morricone's unused score for John Carpenter's Reservoir Dogs.
There Was A Scrapped Connection To Django Unchained
Tarantino originally conceived The Hateful Eight to be a sequel to Django Unchained. The idea originated as a novel called Django in White Hell but when Tarantino struggled to advance the story, he refashioned the format.
The character of Django (Jamie Foxx) was considered to appear in this film, but Tarantino ultimately scrapped the idea. Still, subtle visual references to Django can be found in the film. Major Marquis Warren sits atop Django's saddle at the beginning of the film, and Django's green jacket can be spotted on the floor of Minnie's Haberdashery.
Many Actresses Were Considered For Daisy Domergue
While many of the central roles were written with Tarantino's longtime collaborators in mind, the role of Daisy Domergue was not. Several actresses were considered, including Geena Davis, Demi Moore, Katee Sackhoff, Hilary Swank, Michelle Williams, Evan Rachel Wood, and Robin Wright.
Tarantino ultimately cast Jennifer Jason Leigh in the role after watching several of her starring roles from the '90s. Leigh earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in the film.
Jody's Original Death Was Worse
In the original script, Jody Domergue's (Channing Tatum) death was written to be far more unforgiving than what's ultimately depicted in the film. While his death in the released version is extremely gory, his fate would have been even worse in certain aspects.
Originally, Jody was to be shot once in the arm by Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) and once in the back by Warren before falling back into the basement. Rather than bleeding to death, Jody was to be eaten alive by a horde of rats taking shelter from the blizzard in the basement.
Oswaldo Mobray Has A Grandson In Inglourious Basterds
Tim Roth plays a conman who goes by the name Oswaldo Mobray in the film. But when his identity is revealed to be a ruse, he reveals his real name to be English Pete Hicox.
The name Hicox proves that the character is related to Lieutenant Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender), featured prominently in Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. In a 2015 interview with HuffPo, Roth confirmed his character is the great grandfather of Archie Hicox.
Kurt Russel Destroyed An Antique Guitar
The song Daisy sings in the film was performed live on set by Jennifer Jason Leigh. The same recording is featured on the soundtrack, replete with John Ruth's background dialogue and the sound of nails being hammered into the door.
The guitar Leigh used on set was a $40,000 antique commissioned by the Martin Guitar Museum. Six replicas were created for the scene in which Ruth smashes the guitar to pieces. However, Kurt Russell was unaware of the entire situation and smashed the real guitar during the first take. Leigh's reaction is natural. Martin Guitar Museum has since refused to loan guitars to film productions.
Major Warren's Original Death Was Quicker
In the original draft, Warren's grisly fate was to be far different than what appears onscreen. Rather than left to bleed to death offscreen, Warren would have been shot several times by Jody from beneath the floorboards until he fell to the floor.
With Warren immobilized, an unshackled Daisy would have slid across the floor, grabbed a gun, and shot Warren trice between the eyes. As it is, Warren's implied death comes from a gunshot wound to the genitals.
