Never one to shirk the limelight, Quentin Tarantino recently announced that his next movie was to be a Western titled The Hateful Eight. Well, it now appears that that particular project won't be happening at least not any time soon, at least due to the writer/director having a bit of a wobble at the screenplay having leaked online. Tarantino spoke to Deadline about his frustrations. Open about his anxiety over the leak, Tarantino confessed, "I'm very, very depressed. I finished a script, a first draft, and I didn't mean to shoot it until next winter, a year from now. I gave it to six people, and apparently it's gotten out today." Most recently having directed Django Unchained, Tarantino revealed that his agent, Mike Simpson, broke the news to him after having received several calls from agents looking to suggest their clients for roles in the Western. So just who is responsible for leaking the screenplay for The Hateful Eight? There are a couple of prime suspects, and it appears that Tarantino is on a mission to find the culprit. With a few select actors, such as Michael Madsen, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Tim Roth and Bruce Dern, being linked to the now-delayed/possibly-doomed The Hateful Eight, Quentin broke down who could be responsible. The Chin revealed, "I gave it to one of the producers on Django Unchained, Reggie Hudlin, and he let an agent come to his house and read it. That's a betrayal, but not crippling because the agent didn't end up with the script. There is an ugly maliciousness to the rest of it. I gave it to three actors: Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth. The one I know didn't do this is Tim Roth. One of the others let their agent read it, and the agent has now passed it on to everyone in Hollywood. I don't know how the ****ing agents work, but I'm not making this next. I'm going to publish it, and that's it for now. I give it out to six people, and if I can't trust them to that degree, then I have no desire to make it. I'll publish it. I'm done. I'll move on to the next thing, I've got 10 more where that came from." QT added, "I hadn't give it to Christoph, I haven't given it to Sam Jackson. I gave it to three mother****ing actors. We met in a place, and I put it in their hands. Reggie Hudlin's agent never had a copy. It's got to be either the agents of Dern or Madsen. Please name names." As for the script being available online for all to dissect, Tarantino is said to be fine with this. "I am not talking out of both sides of my mouth," he said, "because I do like the fact that everyone eventually posts it, gets it and reviews it on the net. Frankly I wouldn't want it any other way. I like the fact that people like my sh*t, and that people go out of their way to find it and read it. But I gave it to six mother****ing people! Starting this week, I'll be setting meetings with publishers." Despite his obvious annoyance, the legendary mind behind the likes of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill admitted, "I could totally change my mind; I own the ****ing thing. But I can tell you, it's not going to be the next thing I do. It's my baby, and if the muse calls me later to do it, we'll do it. I was thinking about the idea of maybe publishing it before I made it, but now that deal happens for sure, and I'm not doing it next." Having had The Hateful Eight and another mystery project on his upcoming plate, it appears that this other unnamed project will be QT's next effort. "The idea was, I was going to write two scripts," he explained, "I wasn't going to shoot the Western until next winter, and I have been full of p*ss and vinegar about the other one. So now I'll do that one." This beggars the question: just whose loose lips (of hands) have caused The Hateful Eight to be delayed, possibly shelved; and will this person be involved in the project if it ever does make it to the big screen? It seems that the obvious money would be on an agent passing the screenplay on, with it eventually falling into the hands of somebody who has uploaded it to the World Wide Web. Now over to you, who do you think the culprit is and do you feel that Quentin Tarantino is just simply overacting a tad?
Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics.
As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.
As for the script being available online for all to dissect, Tarantino is said to be fine with this. "I am not talking out of both sides of my mouth," he said, "because I do like the fact that everyone eventually posts it, gets it and reviews it on the net. Frankly I wouldn't want it any other way. I like the fact that people like my sh*t, and that people go out of their way to find it and read it. But I gave it to six mother****ing people! Starting this week, I'll be setting meetings with publishers." Despite his obvious annoyance, the legendary mind behind the likes of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill admitted, "I could totally change my mind; I own the ****ing thing. But I can tell you, it's not going to be the next thing I do. It's my baby, and if the muse calls me later to do it, we'll do it. I was thinking about the idea of maybe publishing it before I made it, but now that deal happens for sure, and I'm not doing it next." Having had The Hateful Eight and another mystery project on his upcoming plate, it appears that this other unnamed project will be QT's next effort. "The idea was, I was going to write two scripts," he explained, "I wasn't going to shoot the Western until next winter, and I have been full of p*ss and vinegar about the other one. So now I'll do that one." This beggars the question: just whose loose lips (of hands) have caused The Hateful Eight to be delayed, possibly shelved; and will this person be involved in the project if it ever does make it to the big screen? It seems that the obvious money would be on an agent passing the screenplay on, with it eventually falling into the hands of somebody who has uploaded it to the World Wide Web. Now over to you, who do you think the culprit is and do you feel that Quentin Tarantino is just simply overacting a tad?