If there’s one thing I’m always thinking when I see a Quentin Tarantino film, it’s “man, this would be really good as a stage play.”
That, of course, is an example of unnecessary sarcasm. Tarantino’s mega-violent, mega-effect-heavy films seem like they’d be a nightmare to stage in a live theater, but apparently that is not going to stop him from adapting his recent blockbuster western The Hateful Eight as a play. Speaking to The Wrap, Tarantino implied that the production is imminent:
“I’ve thought it out completely. I’m just waiting for this [awards] season to be over so I can write it,” Tarantino said. “I gotta put myself there and write it for this.”
Tarantino also plans to direct the stage version, which may mean he’s trying to win a Tony award in pursuit of the EGOT career achievement. (So far, he only has an Oscar, but has been nominated for an Emmy and Grammy.) Or maybe not—it turns out that Harvey Weinstein initially wanted him to try The Hateful Eight as a play:
“Harvey actually — he tried to talk me into doing it as a play first,” Tarantino explained. “He said, ‘Let’s just say this out loud before we commit to doing the movie.’ And I was like, ‘Look, I could. But I like the mystery aspect and the mystery aspect will really only work in the movie. And I have the 70mm and I have the snow. So let me do that.’”
As The Wrap notes, Tarantino has actually appeared on a Broadway stage before, in 1998’s Wait Until Dark revival, where he acted alongside Marisa Tomei and Stephen Lang.