And so the countdown begins. The Weinstein Company announced today that Quentin Tarantino has started principal photography on his 70mm western "The Hateful Eight." As we know, the main ensemble features Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and Channing Tatum, and a new batch of supporting talent has also been revealed.
The most familiar to Tarantino fans will be Zoe Bell, who appeared in "Death Proof" as well as very briefly in "Django Unchained," though she appeared wearing a mask. The rest of the players are mostly previous collaborators, including James Parks from the "Kill Bill" movies and Dana Gourrier, Keith Jefferson, Lee Horsley, Craig Stark and Belinda Owino, who all appeared in ‘Django.’ The only newbie to Tarantino’s mileu is Gene Jones, whose brief film CV includes roles in "No Country For Old Men" and "Oz The Great And Powerful." Here’s the official synopsis for the film:
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…
"The Hateful Eight" will arrive in cinemas later this year. [The Wrap]