Quentin Tarantino’s next movie was all set to be The Hateful Eight. However, the ensemble western is no longer on the cards for the director after he learned yesterday that the script for the movie has leaked, despite only being given to only a handful of people. While it’s not unusual for Tarantino’s scripts to be dissected online by movie bloggers, he tells Deadline that he can’t believe it happened so early, especially when he had just started talking to Harvey Weinstein about how they were going to make it.
“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.” Tarantino discovered this when his agent contact the director to tell him that he was getting phone calls from other agents looking to pitch their clients for roles in the movie. So, who’s the guilty party?
“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 Masden, 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 that agent has now passed it on to everyone in Hollywood. I don’t know how these fucking 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.”
Tarantino believe the leak came from CAA, the agency that represents Dern. While they have denied this, there’s actually no way of uncovering the truth as the screenplay wasn’t dispersed with watermarks which could identify where it originated from. The Django Unchained director is obviously furious, and now plans to shelve the project indefinitely.
“I am not talking out of both sides of my mouth, 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 shit, and that they go out of their way to find it and read it. But I gave it to six motherfucking people! Starting this week, I’ll be setting meetings with publishers. I could totally change my mind; I own the fucking 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.”
However, Tarantino still has another script he’s been working on and now plans to prioritise that one instead. Having spoken out about this leak, he hopes that it will mean actors and agents are more careful in future. Earlier month, it was reported that Christoph Waltz was one of those lucky enough to have been given a script, but the director clarified that it was actually Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, who received it along with Pulp Fiction’s Tim Roth.
“I hadn’t given it to Christoph, I haven’t given it to Sam Jackson. I gave it to three motherfucking 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.”
