Quentin Tarantino has decidedly been pushing the idea that the best way to see his new film, The Hateful Eight, will be in a touring roadshow version projected in Ultra Panavision 70mm. And now he’s revealed to Variety that that version will actually be a little longer than the print that will be digitally handled by multiplexes.
“The roadshow version has an overture and an intermission, and it will be three hours, two minutes,” Tarantino tells the trade mag. “The multiplex version is about six minutes shorter, not counting the intermission time, which is about 12 minutes.”
But don’t worry if you’re thinking he’ll shortchange you for seeing it in a regular cinema – he’s made sure it’s the best version possible, and is doing this without anyone forcing him to trim the film to guarantee more showings. “The 70 is the 70,” he says. “You’ve paid the money. You’ve bought your ticket. So you’re there. I’ve got you. But I actually changed the cutting slightly for a couple of the multiplex scenes because it’s not that. Now it’s on Showtime Extreme. You’re watching it on TV and you just kind of want to watch a movie on your couch. Or you’re at Hot Dog on a Stick and you just want to catch a movie.”
And he wants as many people as possible to be able to see the preferred 70mm version, with The Weinstein Company paying to install projectors in some cinemas so that around 100 screens can handle the roadshow print.
There’s still no official word on how many cinemas will be ready to screen the 70mm in the UK, though The Prince Charles in London and some Picturehouse Cinemas, among others should have the capability. Schedules will likely depend on how many prints are sent our way.
The digital version will be with us on January 8. Check out the trailer below.