Quentin Tarantino Stormed Out of a Meeting with Universal After Pitching Him on Releasing THE HATEFUL EIGHT On iPhones

Sometimes you just gotta laugh at the nonsense of Hollywood, except if you’re Quentin Tarantino. If he doesn’t like the nonsense that they spew, he’ll make sure you know he’s pissed.

While The Weinstein Company was going through those crazy times regarding the allegations made against Harvey Weinstein, Tarantino was looking to cut ties with them and he was shopping his western The Hateful Eight around Hollywood.

During a meeting with Universal Pictures, the director was sharing his vision of shooting the film in 70mm and retrofit theaters across the country to project the film in format. Studio head Jeff Shell had a different idea, though, and he pitched Tarantino the ridiculous idea of releasing The Hateful Eight on iPhones. Tarantino was so angry that he stormed out of the meeting!

In a profile of Shell that was recently published by The Wall Street Journal, they said:

“Jeff Shell, at the time the head of the Universal studio, voiced his own pitch. ‘What if we released it on iPhones?’ he said. ‘Great,’ Mr. Tarantino replied, and stormed out of the meeting.”

That was Shell’s answer to Tarantino’s ambitious plans for the film. That just tells you how clueless and silly some of these Hollywood suits are. Instead of releasing the film in 70mm, he wanted to release it on the smallest screen possible. Either he wanted to purposely kill the deal or he just wasn’t thinking.

Tarantino ended up going back to The Weinstein Compay to make his film because they were willing to make him a better deal where he got to realize his vision on the big screen in 70mm instead of an iPhone.