Quentin Tarantino is in Cannes to make the 20th anniversary of his landmark second film, Pulp Fiction. During a wide-ranging press conference ahead of a screening of the film, Tarantino discussed a potential Django Unchained miniseries and the state of cinema itself.
Tarantino told the press that he has 90 minutes of unused footage from Django, his 2012 two-time Oscar winning film. According to The Guardian, the writer/director plans on putting the footage back into the film and turning it into a four-hour mini-series.
“It wouldn't be an endurance test,” Tarantino said, despite the long running time. “It would be a mini-series and people love those. You show people a four-hour movie and they roll their eyes. Show people a four-part mini-series and they'll sit and watch it all in one sitting.”
The original film, which starred Jamie Foxx as the title character and Christoph Waltz, already runs 165 minutes. Tarantino won an Oscar for his original screenplay and Waltz won an Oscar for his performance.
During the press conference, Cannes Festival chief Thierry Frémaux noted that Pulp Fiction would be screened in 35mm, rather than digital. Tarantino then mourned the loss of 35mm film in most cinemas.
“The fact that now most films are not shown in 35mm means the war is lost,” he said. “The death of 35mm is the death of cinema.”
Tarantino said that he likes that digital filmmaking makes the process cheaper for young filmmakers, but doesn’t understand why a Hollywood director would use digital.
“I’m hopeful that we’re going through a woozy, romantic period with the ease of digital, and I’m hoping that while this generation is completely hopeless, the next generation will come out and demand the real thing,” he said.
As for The Hateful Eight, Tarantino said that he has cooled down from his initial outrage over the script leaking. However, he’s in no hurry to film the script or publish it.
image via Daniel S Levine from TCM Classic Film Festival