The Hateful Eight won't be screened at three key UK cinema chains

UPDATE: Showcase Cinemas, which owns 20 venues nationwide, is offering a discount to Cineworld Unlimited card holders who have been unable to see The Hateful Eight after Cineworld's decision not to screen the film.

Mark Barlow, General Manager of UK Theatres at Showcase Cinemas has stated,"The Hateful Eight is going to be a hugely memorable film this year; Tarantino is a legendary writer and director, and the cast is second to none. It’s a film not to be missed, so we’re inviting Cineworld Unlimited card holders to come and experience it on our state of the art screens at our Insider member’s discount price.”

Cineworld will not be showing Quentin Tarantino's highly-anticipated new movie, The Hateful Eight.

Though previously featured amongst the cinema chain's roster of upcoming films, it found itself swiftly dropped from the website on the news Cineworld had failed to acquire the film for screening. When customers began querying the disappearance on the company's official Twitter account, most were responded to with a standardised statement: "Sadly we haven't been able to come to an agreement with the distributor which means it won't be shown at Cineworld."

Elsewhere, the account mentioned it was a "last minute decision", with a suggestion talks had been extended as long as possible in the hopes an agreement could be reached; with the conclusion being, "a joint decision between ourselves and the distributor."
 

A Cineworld spokesperson later confirmed to Digital Spy, "We can confirm that The Hateful Eight will not be shown at our cinemas. Unfortunately we were not able to reach an agreement with the movie's distributor. We make every effort to show a wide variety of movies and we're very excited about other releases in January including Joy and The Danish Girl."

What happened? Did the film take second priority to Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Or is this more likely connected to the peculiarities of screening the 70mm Tarantino film, with the existence of a two-and-a-half-hour multiplex cut and a three-hour "Roadshow" version, which includes both a musical overture and 12-minute intermission?

Whatever the speculations, it's a huge shame no agreement could be reached with distributor Entertainment; especially for fans with one of Cineworld's Unlimited Card memberships, or those who may live in areas without easy access to another chain.

In an official statement, Entertainment has responded to the upset caused by Cineworld's failed deal, "Cineworld had made us aware that they were very unhappy that The Hateful Eight had been booked into the Odeon Leicester Square for an exclusive 70mm Ultra Panavision presentation, and specifically that they would therefore not be able to play the film at their Picturehouse Central venue."

"Due to the special facilities required for the unique 70mm Ultra Panavision presentation we needed the largest theatre and screen possible in the West End and the Odeon Leicester Square was the natural choice. The technical elements and costs involved with this special presentation meant that this would need to be the exclusive West End venue. The Odeon Leicester Square seats 1680 and Picturehouse Central only seats 344 so clearly this was not a viable alternative."

"Cineworld had every opportunity to book the film in their other cinemas across the country on the same basis as other exhibitors and declined to do so. This is despite the fact that there is no dispute over the financial terms for this release."

"We feel very sorry for Cineworld’s customers and in particular their Unlimited cardholders who will be denied the chance to see the film at a Cineworld cinema using their Unlimited card - a result of this Picturehouse issue relating to a single London West End cinema. As far as the general release is concerned we will be booking more sites with other exhibitors to compensate for Cineworld’s lack of support for a film that has already been given 5 stars and declared as Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece by The Guardian."

"If Cineworld change their mind by tomorrow morning and decide to book the film in the proper way along the lines of the other exhibitors we would be happy for them to do so."

Picturehouse Cinemas, who are owned by Cineworld plc, have confirmed they also won't be showing the film.

UK chain Curzon Cinemas, who specialise in arthouse and independent films, have announced they too will be unable to screen the film; their statement shedding a little more light into the possible reasons for Cineworld's decision. 
 

Vue, alongside Odeon, will be screening the film. Vue Entertainment have commented, “We’re excited to be showing the highly anticipated eighth film from Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight, at Vue cinemas across the UK from Friday the 8th of January. To celebrate the launch, Vue are offering all customers that see the film during opening week an unlimited popcorn refill. With an all-star cast, thrilling soundtrack and magnificent visuals, The Hateful Eight is a big screen experience that should not be missed”.

The Hateful Eight hits (a few other) UK theatres 8 January.