Quentin Tarantino scraps ‘Hateful Eight’ western after script leak ‘betrayal’

“Django Unchained” director Quentin Tarantino is, for lack of a better term, a very passionate guy.

The filmmaker usually channels that enthusiasm into his on-screen endeavours: ultraviolent, pop culture-infused movies like “Pulp Fiction,” “Kill Bill” and “Inglourious Basterds,” but occasionally that famed fervor of his gets directed elsewhere. Sometimes the paparazzi are on the receiving end, other times it’s entertainment reporters, but in the wake of his new Western script “The Hateful Eight” leaking online Tarantino has turned his attention toward Hollywood.

“I’m very, very depressed,” Tarantino told Deadline when he learned about the script leak. “I finished a script, a first draft, and I didn’t mean to shoot it until next winter, a year from now. I gave it to six people, and apparently it’s gotten out today.”

In fact, Tarantino is so upset by the “Hateful Eight” screenplay leaking that he’s now decided to throw in the towel on the project altogether.

“I gave it to one of the producers on 'Django Unchained,' Reggie Hudlin, and he let an agent come to his house and read it,” Tarantino continued. “That’s a betrayal, but not crippling because the agent didn’t end up with the script.”

The director had reportedly been talking to a small group of actors about roles in the film, including frequent collaborators Christoph Waltz (though Tarantino says Waltz never saw the script), Michael Madsen and Tim Roth. He had also been in talks with Oscar nominee Bruce Dern (“Nebraska”), who had a small role in “Django Unchained.”

Tarantino isn’t blaming any of the actors directly for the leak -- but he is most definitely blaming their agents - particularly CAA (Creative Artists Agency), who represent Dern.

“There is an ugly maliciousness to the rest of it. I gave it to three actors: Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth,” the director said. “The one I know didn’t do this is Tim Roth. One of the others let their agent read it, and that agent has now passed it on to everyone in Hollywood. I don’t know how these f---ing agents work, but I’m not making this next.”

So for now that appears to be that for "The Hateful Eight." The director said he's going to meet with publishers to talk about getting the screenplay printed, so at least fans of Q will get to read what might have been. Tarantino thinks he may revisit the project sometime in the future, but for now he plans to focus on another script he's been writing. One thing is certain though, whichever agent leaked the script has probably irreparably damaged their client's relationship with the testy filmmaker. That's what happens when you cross one of the most passionate directors in Hollywood.

“I give it out to six people, and if I can’t trust them to that degree, then I have no desire to make it," Tarantino said. "I’m done. I’ll move on to the next thing. I've got 10 more where that came from.”