'The Hateful Eight' Expanding Early To Almost 2,000 Screens Nationwide

The Hateful Eight expanding its release sooner than expected is hardly bad news. Quentin Tarantino's western has already grossed almost $5.66M at the box office in the past week, playing on just 100 screens. Who would've thought people would've been this excited about the ninth film from Tarantino? Following The Hateful Eight's success, The Weinstein Company is now making the film available to a mass audience.

Find out more after the jump.

A part of the appeal of the limited release for The Hateful Eight is that it was only made available in 70mm — which is how Tarantino wants the movie to be seen. While some theaters have apparently faced technical difficulties, as they're not used to working with 70mm projectors, our own Jacob Hall had a wonderful experience seeing the roadshow presentation, reporting that the projection was "flawless and a testament to the power of film and the trained professionals who know how to give film its due in a movie theater."

If The Hateful Eight wasn't playing in a theater near you, it is now. Here's the official press release from The Weinstein Company:

December 29, 2015 (New York, NY) – The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that they are expanding the nationwide release of Academy Award® winning writer/director Quentin Tarantino's hit film THE HATEFUL EIGHT to approximately 1,958 screens in digital theatrical release on December 30th with preshows starting the evening of December 29th. The expansion follows the huge success of the title's exclusive roadshow run, in which it debuted on Christmas Day on 100 screens in 44 cities. The special limited release, which features an extended version of the film shot and exhibited in the exceedingly rare Ultra Panavision 70mm, has grossed an impressive $5.66M at the U.S. box office to date. THE HATEFUL EIGHT will see a further expansion in theater count on December 31st. The current 100 select theaters will continue showing the film in its special Roadshow 70mm format.

"To see this film open at over $56,000 per screen in an amazingly crowded holiday box office has us all incredibly excited," commented TWC President of Distribution Erik Lomis. "While we are beyond thrilled with the limited release numbers, the demand from moviegoers to see this film has exceeded our capabilities in 70mm, so we're greatly looking forward to bringing it to more theaters and cities and give Tarantino fans across the country the chance to experience this brilliant, intensely fun piece of filmmaking."

The Hateful Eight was originally scheduled to go wide on January 8th. Over two weeks ago, The Weinstein Company bumped the wide release up to January 1st. I can't think of the last time plans kept changing so much for a movie this big and so close around its release. But no matter. This just means more people get to see The Hateful Eight before 2016. If you're still home for the holidays, you can now experience three hours of bloodshed, profanity, and some glorious tension and darkly funny gags with the whole family.