Quentin Tarantino is bringing back 70mm for The Hateful Eight, but theaters will have to fork over some serious cash to screen the movie in this format.
The Hateful Eight was shot on 70mm film stock, which allows for a much wider image compared to a typical 35mm film. This "Ultra Panivision" style has been used in the past for epics like Ben-Hur, but it has been largely abandoned in the move to digital projection.
The problem is that the vast majority of theaters aren't currently equipped to show a 70mm print, and one engineer at a company specializing in theater installation told The New York Times that acquiring this technology will cost cinemas between $60,000 and $80,000 per screen.
It remains to be seen if this experiment will work then, or if theaters will end up losing money on the deal. The Hateful Eight will open in 70mm on 96 screens in the U.S. on Dec. 25.
This will be the widest release of a 70mm movie in over 20 years. Recently, Interstellar and The Master have opened in this format, but only in 11 and 16 locations respectively.
One element that will hopefully draw audiences to these special screenings is that the 70mm version of The Hateful Eight will open two weeks earlier than the standard digital version, and it will also be about six minutes longer.