When it was announced thatThe Hateful Eightwas going to beQuentin Tarantino’s next film, there was plenty of reason to be curious. While the filmmaker has delved in similar genres before, this was the first time he was making two films back to back that were very specifically genre pieces—Westerns, in fact. This was coming on the heels of Tarantino’s first ever Western,Django Unchained, and the director himself admitted that he wanted to do another Western because he felt he only really mastered the genre once he completedDjango. WithThe Hateful Eight, he could put all that experience to good use. It turns out, however, thatHateful EightandDjango Unchainedactually have much more in common than simply being in the same genre—they were originally connected by the character of Django himself.
Speaking withDavid Polandduring a video interview, Tarantino revealed that the story idea forThe Hateful Eightoriginated with a novelized sequel toDjango Unchainedthat he was developing:
“After doingDjangoI knew I didn’t want to do anyDjangomovie sequels or anything, but I liked the idea of there being several paperbacks that could be the further adventures of Django or maybe go back in time, a couple more Django/Schultz adventures. So I hadn’t written a novel before and I thought I would just try my hand at writing a Django paperback. At the time it was calledDjango in White Hell. Instead of [Samuel L. Jackson’s] Major Warren it was Django.”
So what made Tarantino change course? Well he realizedThe Hateful Eightis a non-heroic affair:
“Because I was introducing such rough characters in this piece, and there would be even more disreputable characters waiting for them [at the haberdashery], at a certain point I realized, ‘well you know what’s wrong with this piece? It’s Django. he’s needs to go. Because you shouldn’t have a moral center when it comes to these eight characters.’ ”
Indeed,The Hateful Eight’s cast of characters is a colorful bunch ofmeanfolks. While Django enacted his revenge in bloody fashion, at his core he’s a heroic character. Having seenThe Hateful EightI can confirm thatJamie Foxx’s freed slave would not have fit in as a piece of this wholeat all—the movie’s true to its title.
But that doesn’t meanThe Hateful Eightisn’t without delight or characters to root for. Tarantino masterfully weaves this tale of snowy violence with some wonderfully conceived character arcs that are immensely satisfying. I wouldhighlysuggest you catch the film when it opens in theaters.The Hateful Eightwill be released exclusively in 70mm on December 25th and opens everywhere on January 8th.
