Oscar winning director Quentin Tarantino claims that Disney is “going out of their way to “f— me,” among other choice words he used on the Howard Stern SiriusXM radio show Wednesday.
“It was real bad news and it f—ing pissed me off,” Tarantino told Stern.
Tarantino claims that Disney is strong-arming Arclight Cinemas, pushing his 70MM The Hateful Eight out of the L.A. theater’s renowned Cinerama Dome for J.J. Abrams’ “The Force Awakens.”
Tarantino explains that ArcLight Cinemas told Disney they would play Hateful Eight in the Cinerama Dome starting on Christmas, but Disney threatened to pull “Star Wars” from all locations if the film couldn’t stay in that one theater. “It’s vindictive, it’s mean and it’s extortion,” Tarantino added.
Tarantino reveres Arclight Cinemas, especially this theater, he said. “The Hateful Eight” premiere was held at the Cinerama Dome on December 7. The Cinerama logo even appears in the opening credits of “The Hateful Eight.”
The director adds he made the Disney corporation quite a bit of money, referencing the days when Disney owned Miramax and released films like his two Kill Bill pictures, which grossed a combined $333 million worldwide, and Pulp Fiction, which brought in $213.9 million at the global box office. Tarantino explained his beef isn’t with Abrams. “I love J.J. Abrams. I’m not saying it’s the ‘Star Wars’ people. It’s the Disney people,” Tarantino said.
While Tarantino agrees that there are many blockbusters coming out at the same time this holiday season, like “Joy,” “Sisters” and the Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell film, “Daddy’s Home,” he doesn’t think any of them, including his own, are serious competition to “Star Wars.”
Stern ensures Tarantino that Abrams will fix the issue, and notes Disney CEO Bob Iger is a religious listener to his show. “This really isn’t going to impact their bottom line,” Stern said. “They didn’t need to do this to you.”
Stern took a moment to address Iger. “Listen Bob … I don’t give a s— about this theater. Quentin’s a weirdo, sorry Quentin. They’ve got the stupid 70 mm. They got all that s— that he cares about. He just wants to show his goddamn movie there. You’re sitting on top of the world. You’ve got ‘Star Wars.’ What, do you need this?”
Stern adds, “Bobby, be a gracious man. I want Quentin to show this new movie. He’s worked his a– off. He wants the equiptment. Hatefully, would you do it for me? … It’s Christmas for Christ’s sake.”
Archlihjy Cinemas announced that they upgraded the Cinerama Dome with dual-head Christie 6P laser projectors and Dolby 3D, which can project more than double the light of an average 3D projection system, just in time for “Star Wars.”
