Quentin Tarantino‘s “Hateful Eight” is set to premiere exclusively in 70mm in select theaters on Christmas Day, the Weinstein Company announced on Friday.
The viewing experience will only be available for a limited time, however. Following the two-week limited run of the Western starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell and Jennifer Jason Leigh, the film will open with a regular theatrical digital release nationwide on January 8, 2016.
TWC did not disclose how many theaters will be retrofitted to play the film in 70mm, but indicated that the roll-out will mark the widest 70mm release that the industry has seen in more than 20 years.
The company pulled a similar stunt in 2012 when it distributed Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” in roughly 15 theaters in the rare format.
Filmmakers hold 70mm stock near and dear to their heart because of the high-resolution image quality, which captures nearly twice the landscape of the more common formats, 35mm and digital.
Because of its unique quality and rich cinematic history, Tarantino, TWC and a number of other major Hollywood directors and studios have negotiated deals with Kodak to continue production of 70mm film and other film formats, despite their higher costs and complexity of use.
“Hateful Eight” follows a bounty hunter (Russell) and his fugitive (Leigh) getting stuck in a cabin during a blizzard with a host of shady characters played by Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Bruce Dern.
Richard N. Gladstein, Stacey Sher and Shannon McIntosh are producing the film written and directed by Tarantino. Harvey Weinstein, Bob Weinstein and Georgia Kacandes are executive producing, while Coco Francini and William Paul Clark are associate producing.
“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,” TWC president of theatrical distribution and home entertainment Erik Lomis said in a statement.