The Hateful Eight - Trivia
1. After the script leaked online, Quentin Tarantino did not want to make the film. But after they did a brief reading of the script in L.A. the cast were stunned and got excited for the film and with Samuel L. Jackson persuading him to do this film, Tarantino accepted.
2. At one point, Michael Madsen's character says the line, "a bastard's work is never done" which was the tagline on the poster for Inglourious Basterds (2009).
3. The song sung by Daisy was performed by Jennifer Jason Leigh live on set. The soundtrack for the film features the song along with the sounds of the wood being hammered into the door and dialogue by Kurt Russell.
4. Despite being their sixth collaboration as actor and director, this is the first time that Samuel L. Jackson receives top billing in a film directed by Quentin Tarantino.
5. Unfortunately for the production of the film, during the scheduled shooting dates on location in Telluride, Colorado, there was a long streak of nice weather. Large fans and starch, and large overhead sunblocks were used in many of the outdoors blizzard shots to try to recreate a blizzard. A large amount of the much-needed snow melted away and production was placed on hiatus. As a fun attempt to try to get more snow, many of the cast and crew members including Quentin Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson, and Kurt Russell participated in a local "ski burn", making an offering to the "snow gods" to try to get it to snow. Coincidentally (or not...) a couple days later, a large storm came in and dropped a large amount of snow so filming could continue.
6. There are three subtle references to Django Unchained (2012) in the film. First, when we meet Major Warren, he is sitting on top of 3 corpses and a saddle. This saddle was previously owned by Django and the second is in Minnie's Haberdashery. Sitting on the floor of the haberdashery is Django's green corduroy jacket. Both of these references have been confirmed by Samuel L. Jackson. Also, Walton Goggins' character is called a 'hillbilly' in both films.
7. In the roadshow version, the word "nigger" is used sixty-five times, which is a little over half the use in Quentin Tarantino's previous film Django Unchained (2012), which is said to hold the record for the movie with the most uses of the "n word." In the general release, one scene between Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) and Gen. Sanford Smithers (Bruce Dern) is removed that uses the word seven times, reducing the count to fifty-eight. Of the main cast, Michael Madsen is the only person not to say it.
8. The Hateful Eight (2015), according to Quentin Tarantino, was his metaphoric way of breaking down his feelings about The Thing (1982), i.e. the way he felt watching it for the first time in a movie theatre.
9. Early test screenings had a runtime of over 3 hours and included an intermission.
10. The gory special effects were courtesy of The Walking Dead (2010)'s FX guru Greg Nicotero who also contributed to Tarantino's other films Inglourious Basterds (2009), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) and Django Unchained (2012).
11. Michelle Williams, Robin Wright, Geena Davis, Evan Rachel Wood, Hilary Swank and Demi Moore were all considered for the role of Daisy Domergue before Jennifer Jason Leigh was officially announced.