Universal Gave Tarantino an Unusual Pitch for Hateful Eight and It Didn't Go Well

Prolific director and cinephile Quentin Tarantino was originally pitched on the idea of releasing his Oscar-winning Hateful Eight film on iPhones instead of theaters by NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell. In a new profile piece on Shell by The Wall Street Journal (via IndieWire), the CEO recalls a time when Tarantino was looking for financing for The Hateful Eight, which was difficult at the time, due to the director's desire to shoot the film in 70mm and retrofit theaters so they would be able to properly display the movie. According to the Wall Street Journal, "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." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/12/16/the-hateful-eight-review"] Tarantino would end up working with The Weinstein Company on The Hateful Eight, with the film going on to gross over $155 million at the worldwide box office and earn iconic composer Ennio Morricone his first Academy Award. While Shell's pitch may seem a bit unorthodox, the NBCUniversal boss has recently found financial success in the digital streaming space by thinking outside the box with the debut of Trolls World Tour, which made close to $100 million in online rental fees after skipping a theatrical release. This unexpected on-demand premiere sparked a feud between Universal and major movie theater chains, with AMC and Regal Entertainment refusing to play Universal movies once their cinemas reopen. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He's also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.