We knew that director Quentin Tarantino was filming The Hateful Eight on 65mm film cameras with every intention of creating 70mm film prints for select theaters. Then we learned that he was spearheading a campaign to retrofit 50 theaters across the nation with 70mm projectors so more audiences could see the movie in its intended format. Now the final piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. The Hateful Eight will open on Christmas Day, but only in theaters capable of projecting 70mm. Everyone else will have to wait an extra two weeks.

As those lucky enough to have seen The Master and Interstellar projected in 70mm will tell you, there is nothing quite like this format. You will never be able to fully stomach sub-par digital projection again once you have experienced it. It spoils you. That’s why this plan is a stroke of genius. If you want to see his movie early, you have to go out of your way to see it projected in 70mm, which will make you realize what you’re missing, and maybe it will convince other filmmakers to keep working on film instead of digital. This release pattern could also drive audiences toward repertory theaters that are already equipped with 70mm projectors, which benefits just about everyone.

The official press release specifies that The Hateful Eight will open in these select theaters on December 25, 2015 before expanding to wide release on January 8, 2016. Here’s a statement from The Weinstein Company president Erik Lomis:

Our long relationship with Quentin Tarantino is one of the cornerstones of this company, so it’s incredibly special to us to be releasing his latest film in such a spectacular way on 70mm – we can’t think of a finer Christmas gift to be giving movie lovers and Tarantino fans this year.

And for those of you who live under a rock, 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 was already primed to be one the must-see movies of 2015. If you can, make sure you go out of your way to see it projected in 70mm. You won’t regret it.

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