Well, actually, Christmas will be coming at the same time as it does every year, but this year it will also come with an extra special present for fans of 70mm (and let's be honest, anyone with a functioning set of eyeballs is a fan of 70mm). Today, The Weinstein Company announced that Quentin Tarantino's newest flick, The Hateful Eight, will be released on Christmas day with a glorious 70mm anamorphic presentation.
Not only that, but it's being reported that theaters in 50 cities across the US will be retrofitted with 70mm projectors in order to bring the full 70mm experience to as wide an audience as possible. Though it has not been confirmed yet, this would make The Hateful Eight the widest 70mm release in over 20 years. No word yet on which cities and theaters will be getting the 70mm treatment, but we'll share that list as soon as we have it.
The Hateful Eight was shot by frequent Tarantino collaborator Robert Richardson (who's a legendary DP in his own right). The pair shot the film on Kodak 65mm with a set of Ultra Panavision 70 anamorphic lenses that apparently haven't seen the light of day since the were used on the 1966 epic Khartoum.
Also slated for an early 2016 release is Alejandro González Iñárritu's The Revenant, which was of course lensed by none other than Emmanuel Lubezki with Arri's new Alexa 65 camera system. Needless to say, 2016 will likely be a great year for epic westerns shot on larger cinema formats.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
