The last we heard about Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated Western The Hateful Eight was that it would be shooting in November.  This was a welcome turn of events in a development saga that had turned somewhat sordid.  First, an early draft of the script leaked causing Tarantino to can the film and instead stage a live read.  So getting a new QT movie at all was a blessing.  Now comes the delay.  But the good news is that it’s apparently a minor one.

Kurt Russell is claiming that the film will actually be shooting next year.  Which, by the way, appears to lend some credibility to the idea that the cast of the live read of Hateful Eight would be returning for the film version.  That cast included Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, James Remar, Amber Tamblyn, Walton Goggins, Zoe Bell and Tim Roth.  Honestly, don’t expect all of them to come back.  Wanting to do a project and making time for it are two completely different things and aligning those 11 schedules could be tough.  Hit the jump for more on The Hateful Eight delay.

Django Freeman, the hero of Quentin Tarantino, has already appeared in comics via an adaptation of the full screenplay.  Now the bounty hunter is returning to the medium in an incredibly random pairing with another memorable character.  Dynamite Entertainment is teaming with DC Entertainment to publish Django/Zorro.  Yes, it’s that Zorro, the legendary swordsman who first appeared in pulp magazines in 1919.  Tarantino will co-write the script with Reginald Hudlin (who co-produced Django Unchained) and Matt Wagner, creator of the acclaimed comic series Mage and Grendel.  The comic pairing of Django and Zorro is scheduled to his shelves in late 2014.  I usually wait to check out comics in trade paperback, but I might have to at least pick up the first issue to read this delightful-sounding madness.

Hit the jump to check out the press release:

Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s Western The Hateful Eight has gone through a bit of a whirlwind when it comes to its development.  Earlier this year, it was announced that Tarantino was planning another Western as his follow-up to Django Unchained, a film called The Hateful Eight that would potentially be toplined by Bruce Dern and Christoph Waltz.  Just a little over a week later, Tarantino’s full script was leaked and published online, offending the filmmaker and leading him to say that he was putting the project aside and might instead just publish the finished screenplay when it’s done.

Fast forward to a few days ago at the Cannes Film Festival where Tarantino was screening Pulp Fiction for its 20th anniversary, and the director admitted that he had “calmed down” a bit re: The Hateful Eight after a live read of the script, adding that he was in the midst of finishing the second draft and intended to do a third draft.  Well now it looks like Hateful Eight might be QT’s next flim after all, as a new report corroborates earlier claims that the pic will go before cameras this November.  Hit the jump for more.

Two decades after winning the Palme d’Or for Pulp Fiction in 1994, Quentin Tarantino is back at the Cannes Film Festival for a 20th anniversary screening of the film.  In anticipation of the screening, Tarantino participated in a press conference, and unsurprisingly it was rather lively.  We already shared what he had to say about putting together a 4-hour miniseries version of Django Unchained, but since the conference was chock-full of fascinating quotes from the one-of-a-kind filmmaker, we thought it fitting to provide the full audio for your listening pleasure.  If you don’t have time to listen to the whole thing, we’ve also pulled some of the more interesting quotes.

Hit the jump to see what Tarantino had to say about how he enjoys rewatching his own movies, his disdain for digital projection and the “death of cinema”, why he doesn’t like using original scores in his films, the most exciting directors working today, and more.

When filmmaker Quentin Tarantino’s period Western Django Unchained was released, it was no secret that a fair amount of the scenes from his original script ended up on the cutting room floor.  Even though the finished feature clocked in at 2 hours and 45 minutes, there were still plenty of scenes that didn’t make it in (many involving Kerry Washington’s Broomhilda), and Tarantino even went so far as to turn his lengthy original script into a graphic novel so that audiences could enjoy the full Django Unchained experience.  Though Tarantino doesn’t do “deleted scenes” or director’s cuts, it appears that the unseen footage may yet see the light of day, as the filmmaker recently revealed that he’d like to take the 90 minutes of deleted scenes and craft a 4-hour Django Unchained miniseries.  Hit the jump to read on.

Quentin Tarantino was in the middle of working on The Hateful Eight script when it leaked, and decided to scrap the project even though he wanted it to be his next film.  Tarantino explained that he was frustrated with the leak to the point where he decided to put The Hateful Eight aside and work on something else.  But it looks like he can’t let the project go since this past weekend he hosted a live-reading of the script with Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, and more reading the various parts.  At the live-reading, Tarantino told the audience that they would be hearing an in-progress second draft of the script, and he planned to write a third draft.  He also noted that the final chapter—”Black Night, White Hell” would be changed, “So the only time it will be seen is here, tonight,” he told the audience according The Playlist.  Kind of makes that $200 ticket well worth the price of admission.

Hit the jump for more.

Quentin Tarantino was gearing up to make the western The Hateful Eight his next movie, but when the script leaked online, he shut the project down (he’s also suing Gawker for leaking the script).  While he’s considering publishing a book version, Film Independent has announced that there will at least be a staged live-reading of the script (or presumably the script that was leaked; Tarantino hadn’t reached a final draft).  Tarantino is holding the event for Film Independent, “the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Film Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival”.  The event will not be recorded or live streamed, but I’m glad Tarantino is at least willing to provide this reading to a live audience.  Additionally, it’s for a good cause since “all proceeds go towards supporting the year-round programing efforts of Film Independent at LACMA.”

Hit the jump for the press release, which includes the brief synopsis for The Hateful Eight.

If things had gone as planned, we’d probably be itching for the next update on Quentin Tarantino’s excellently titled new film The Hateful Eight right now while the filmmaker worked on building his cast and tweaking his script.  Instead, Tarantino has opted not to make The Hateful Eight his next film after an early draft of his script—which he provided to a handful of people in confidence—was leaked to internal channels by an agent.  Things have only gotten worse since Tarantino addressed the leak, as the script was published online late last week.  Now the filmmaker is taking legal action against Gawker Media, which posted a link to download the leaked script under a headline titled “Here Is the Leaked Quentin Tarantino Hateful Eight Script.”  Hit the jump to read on.

If you’ve yet to check out writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton‘s Short Term 12, what are you waiting for? The film hit shelves on Blu-ray/DVD on January 14th, rendering the “it’s not playing anywhere near me” excuse invalid. I had the opportunity to watch it last weekend and I was blown away. Much has been made of Brie Larson‘s performance and for good reason: it’s terrific. She’s not alone in that regard, though. The turns by Kaitlyn Dever and Keith Stanfield are nothing short of excellent and, in particular, a scene between Stanfield and John Gallagher Jr. in which Stanfield’s character, Marcus, bares his emotional scars via an original rap verse is equal parts heartbreaking and jaw-dropping. Watching Short Term 12 is an emotional roller coaster. You’ll laugh, cry, feel anger, love, hope, and despair. You’ll catch a glimpse of just how lonely a life can be and, at the same time, appreciate how opening ourselves up to the possibility of trust and love is a powerful decision that doesn’t come easily for all of us.

My Blu-ray/DVD recommendation of the week in the books, this week’s Top 5 highlights all of our Sundance 2014 coverage to date, a new trailer for The Raid 2 (including Matt’s Sundance review), Quentin Tarantino‘s The Hateful Eight script leak, a new trailer for Disney’s Maleficent, and a variety of news from the Star Wars: Episode VII camp. Keep reading for a brief recap and link to each of the above.

Some very disappointing news came earlier this week when Quentin Tarantino announced that he was no longer going to make his Western The Hateful Eight after an agent leaked his draft of the script.  It was a breach of trust, and one that Tarantino just couldn’t get over in the foreseeable future, so the filmmaker said that due to this leak, he is not moving forward with The Hateful Eight as his next film.  The project was still in its early stages, but it was already off to a promising start.  Tarantino was eyeing Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, and Michael Madsen for roles in the pic, and now yet another reason to be disappointed has surfaced: Tarantino intended to shoot the entire thing on 70mm.  Hit the jump for more.

In a strange turn of events, a little more than a week after announcing that Quentin Tarantino would be making the Western The Hateful Eight his next picture, he’s now thinking about shelving it.  Literally.  He’s considering publishing the story first and then possibly revisiting it as a film some time in the next five years.  Why?  Well, it seems that a copy of the script sent out to a small circle of actors has been leaked, and Tarantino is so distraught over that fact that he’s thinking about scrapping production plans.  Hit the jump for more.

It appears that we may have a new Quentin Tarantino film to look forward to sooner rather than later.  Just before the holidays, Tarantino revealed that his follow-up to Django Unchained would be another Western, adding, “I had so much fun doing Django, and I love Westerns so much that after I taught myself how to make one, it’s like ‘OK! Let me make another one now that I know what I’m doing.”  While the filmmaker didn’t add anymore details about the project other than the fact that he was in the process of writing the screenplay, it appears that he’s close enough to finishing the script that he’s now showing it to a handful of actors that he wants for the lead roles.  Titled The Hateful Eight, Tarantino is reportedly eyeing regular collaborator Christoph Waltz and veteran actor Bruce Dern for to star in his next film.  Hit the jump for more.

Some directors line up new projects while they’re still working on current ones, but Quentin Taratino takes his time.  While he’s been on a rate of about one film every three years since his six year hiatus between Jackie Brown and Kill Bill, the wait is till unbearable.  It’s been a year since Django Unchained, and Tarantino is still toying with what he’ll do next.  It could be Killer Crow, which might be the conclusion of a “Rewritten History” trilogy following Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained. However, a few weeks ago he said his next movie will be another western, although it’s not a sequel to Django Unchained.  Whatever he settles on, it will probably never be Kill Bill: Vol. 3.  In an interview with The Independent, Tarantino says “I don’t think about Kill Bill 3 that much.”

Hit the jump for more including why Tarantino decided he changed his mind about quitting directing.

Quentin Tarantino started his feature film career with a string of crime films, but then changed gears with the eclectic mix of Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained.  Now it looks like his next movie will see him sticking to the Western genre.  During an interview on The Tonight Show, Tarantino said “I haven’t told anyone this publicly, but I will say the genre: It’s a western,” but wouldn’t go into any more details other than to say, it wouldn’t be a sequel to Django Unchained.  Tarantino explained, “I had so much fun doing Django, and I love westerns so much that after I taught myself how to make one, it’s like ‘OK! Let me make another one now that I know what I’m doing,’”

Hit the jump to check out video of the interview, and for speculation on what the Western could be.

Having missed it during its highly successful theatrical run, I made an early trip to the video store (remember those?) this past Tuesday to pick up The Purge on Blu-ray. Like many, I was intrigued by the premise of a dystopian future America in which an annual night of crime-free killing known as “The Purge” is the key to the new U.S. of A.’s unprecedented prosperity. For an elevator pitch, my last sentence is intriguing stuff that leaves you wanting to know more about the world created by writer/director James DeMonaco. Unfortunately, I found the stellar logline to be the best thing going for The Purge as a majority of the film’s execution felt flat. I cared little to nothing about the Sandin family, was taken out of the movie during long stretches of characters searching aimlessly around the house with a flashlight, and felt the pic exchanged discernible commentary on societal violence for an all-out bloodbath that was not as much scary as it was a welcomed break from said extensive flashlight searching. Final verdict? Watch The Purge for the interesting premise, but don’t expect much in the way of scares or social commentary.

All new to home video discussion aside, this week’s Top 5 is filled to the brim with Captain Phillips interviews with Tom Hanks and more, a new trailer for Ben Stiller‘s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty including Matt and Steve’s impressions of the film, 106 lost episodes of Doctor Who potentially popping up in Ethiopia, a new trailer for David O. Russell‘s American Hustle, and Quentin Tarantino‘s top 10 films of 2013 to date. As you may be expecting, a brief recap and link to each of the above awaits after the jump.