Update: Tatum is now confirmed for the film, along with Demián Bichir. See the full press release below, following the original story.
With rehearsals already underway, we imagine Quentin Tarantino actually has his cast for The Hateful Eight more or less set, but we’re now starting to learn who exactly will take part. We know Samuel L Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, and Tim Roth are confirmed for roles, and now Deadline reports that Channing Tatum is circling “a major role” in the project. Though Screen Daily has a conflicting report, saying his role would be a small one that “enter towards the end of the script.”
Unfortunately, there’s no more details beyond that, but with Magic Mike XXL recently wrapping, he’s jumping to Coens‘ Hail, Caesar! shortly. Then he’ll take part in a shoot that kicks off in January in 65mm ahead of a late 2015 release. We also got word last night that The Weinstein Company is eying a potential Toronto International Film Festival premiere to kick off what will be “the widest 70mm film release in more than 20 years.” Tatum’s certainly on quite a run, and we’d look forward to him taking this on.
The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that an incredible list of top acting talent has come on board to star in Academy Award winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming post-Civil War western, THE HATEFUL EIGHT. The Hateful Eight are: Academy Award nominee Samuel L. Jackson (DJANGO UNCHAINED) as Major Marquis Warren, Golden Globe nominee Kurt Russell (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK) as John “The Hangman” Ruth, Golden Globe nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh (MRS. PARKER AND THE VICIOUS CIRCLE) as Daisy Domergue, Emmy nominee Walton Goggins (Justified) as Chris Mannix, Academy Award nominee Demian Bichir (A BETTER LIFE) as Bob, Academy Award nominee Tim Roth (RESERVOIR DOGS) as Oswaldo Mobray, Michael Madsen (RESERVOIR DOGS) as Joe Gage and Academy Award nominee Bruce Dern (NEBRASKA) General Sanford Smithers. Also, Channing Tatum (FOXCATCHER) has signed on for a role in the project. This will be Leigh, Bichir and Tatum’s first film with Tarantino, while the rest of the cast has worked with him in the past. THE HATEFUL EIGHT is the eighth feature for the filmmaker, whose last film DJANGO UNCHAINED earned him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and grossed over $425 million worldwide.
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…
Written and directed by Tarantino, THE HATEFUL EIGHT is produced by long-time Tarantino collaborators Richard N. Gladstein, Stacey Sher and Shannon McIntosh. Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and G. Mac Brown are THE HATEFUL EIGHT’s executive producers, and Coco Francini and William Paul Clark are associate producers.
Presented in glorious 70mm, THE HATEFUL EIGHT will be released by TWC in 2015. The film marks a continuation of the long-standing relationship between the celebrated filmmaker and the Weinsteins, who have collaborated on all of Tarantino’s films, from RESERVOIR DOGS through DJANGO UNCHAINED.
“Any actor who jumps on board with one of Quentin’s films is in for a wild and rewarding ride,” commented Bob and Harvey Weinstein, TWC Co-Chairmen. “We couldn’t be any more thrilled with the fantastic group of performers we’ve assembled for THE HATEFUL EIGHT – some perennial fixtures in his movies and some newcomers – and can’t wait to kick off the shoot in Telluride.”
What do you think of Tatum’s involvement?