Editorial Staff
Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” gears up for a December shoot in Colorado, while rumours suggest Viggo Mortensen may be joining the cast.
Firstly, The Denver Post
has the details on the where and when of the filming :
The state has blessed a $5 million incentive package to help bring production of writer-director Quentin Tarantino’s eighth feature film to southwestern Colorado in December.
The state Economic Development Commission approved the package Friday morning, allowing the state to beat out rival locales Utah and Wyoming for filming.
Minutes after approval, state film commissioner Donald Zuckerman signed the necessary contracts so production spending could move forward in the state.
Budgeted at $44 million, Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” would be the most significant production undertaken in the state since the 1969 classic “True Grit” was shot here.
“The whole movie’s going to be shot here, exteriors and interiors,” Zuckerman said. “They’re going to build it on a ranch.”
The film’s Colorado budget includes $15.7 million for payroll, including a Colorado crew of 168, and $9.35 million in other in-state spending, including lodging. The state rebate of $5 million represents 20 percent of that spending.
Prep work should begin early next month with shooting expected to start on Dec. 8 at the Schmid Ranch, on Wilson Mesa 10 miles west of Telluride. The crew would be housed in Telluride and take a break over the Christmas holiday.
The nearly 900-acre, high-mesa ranch, homesteaded in 1882, is under a conservation easement, which will require that the land be returned to its original state after filming is completed.
In other “Hateful” news, “Two Faces of January” star Viggo Mortensen is rumoured to be in talks to play the film’s villain.
This from the New York Daily News :
A Confidenti@l spy spotted the legendary director “boisterously” discussing a role with Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen at the Greenwich Hotel in Tribeca. According to the eagle-eyed hotel guest, the pair had what appeared to be scripts in front of them and seemed to be discussing characters. The “Reservoir Dogs” filmmaker was overheard enthusing to Mortensen about a “ruthless gang leader” role. The movie, set to begin shooting this November in Wyoming, follows a gang of post-Civil War bounty hunters who get stranded in a blizzard.
