With The Weinstein Company promising a 70mm release in 2015, casting deals have begun coming together for Quentin Tarantino‘s The Hateful Eight. Although a recent live reading points us toward a litany of talent who likely lead the film (more on that in a minute), our first official casting notice has come in, and it does not disappoint. [The Wrap]
Those sources have dropped an exciting bit: the picture’s central female figure, Daisy Domergue, will be portrayed by Jennifer Jason Leigh. As written in Tarantino‘s original script — and as first portrayed by Amber Tamblyn on the stage — Domergue is a violent, frantic sort who’s being transported to her hanging. Although soon trapped in a blizzard-surrounded inn with several other brutal sorts, the bounty hunter who brought her there among them, she proves more dangerous and cunning than shackles might suggest. To say anything else of the plot would be criminal; role-wise, it should still be noted that this, “among the most coveted [roles] in Hollywood in recent months,” was of interest to Robin Wright, Hilary Swank, Demi Moore, and Michelle Williams.
It’s hard to go wrong with anyone in that set, yet Leigh is a choice I’m particulary excited about. Judging by the original material, one of this generation’s finest actresses — and, given her sparer-by-the-year amount of roles, under-utilized — has one of her better characters in recent memory. And what an ensemble! If both The Wrap and Tarantino‘s original staging are indicative of what’s to come, The Hateful Eight‘s full cast will shake out like so: Samuel L. Jackson as Major Marquis Warren, another bounty hunter and essentially the film’s protagonist; Michael Madsen as John Gage, a notably archetypal cowboy; Denis Minochet (Inglourious Basterds‘s Monsieur LaPadite) as Frenchman Bob; Bruce Dern as the vile General Smithers, formerly of the CSA; Walton Goggins as Chris Mannix, also a former Confederate; James Parks as O.B., a stagecoach driver; Zoe Bell as Six-Horse Judy, whose being written as a New Zealand cowgirl spelled-out her intended performer from the start; and Dana Gourrier & James Remar as Minnie and Jody, respectively, mysteriously missing owners of the inn in which Eight‘s action takes place. (The once-rumored Jennifer Lawrence goes unnoted in the original story.)
The situation they find themselves in, perhaps best elevator-pitched as his Western remake of Reservoir Dogs, makes for one of the stranger and more immediately compelling screenplays of Tarantino‘s more-than-fruitful career. In short: after a bit of silly controversy, it’s time to get excited.
What are your thoughts on Leigh’s casting and, as of right now, The Hateful Eight‘s prospects?