Quentin Tarantino’s movies have long been famous for their soundtracks – though one thing that’s been notable throughout the filmmaker’s career is that he has always preferred the use of existing music instead of original scores. That will change in a huge way with his next project, as it’s been officially announced that legendary composer Ennio Morricone has been hired to craft the music that will fuel Tarantino’s newest western, The Hateful Eight.
This amazing news was confirmed this afternoon during the San Diego Comic-Con panel for The Hateful Eight, where Quentin Tarantino was joined on stage by nearly his entire amazing cast, including Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bechir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, and Bruce Dern. Most of the presentation was focused on the fact that the writer/director used 65mm lenses to shoot the new movie, and the film will be going on a roadshow projecting in 70mm starting on Christmas, but it was at the end of the event that Tarantino made the announcement. Said the filmmaker,
It wasn’t for sure, we just kind of settled it down. You guys know that I don’t usually use an original score in my movies, I kind of take scores from other movies and work them in there. This one, I kinda thought, should have an original score. And so I’m here to announce that Ennio Morricone will be doing an original score.
Sadly, Quentin Tarantino was unable to provide the Comic-Con crowd with a sample of what the genius composer is making for The Hateful Eight, but it was confirmed that Morricone is writing the music now, and there is a schedule to start recording in Prague in the next couple of weeks.
For those who don't know much about the history of film scores, Ennio Morricone is unquestionably one of the greatest to ever live, and is best known for his collaborations with director Sergio Leone - with whom he worked on Once Upon A Time In The West, all three movies in the Dollars Trilogy (including The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) and more. What’s perhaps most exciting about his involvement with The Hateful Eight, however, is the fact that it will be the legendary composers first western score in 40 years.
Of course, those who make a habit of listening to Quentin Tarantino soundtracks know that this isn’t the first time that Ennio Morricone music has found its way into one of his films. The writer/director used multiple tracks from the composer on the soundtracks for Kill Bill Vol. 2, Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained. In fact, Morricone actually specially wrote the track “Ancora Qui” for the 2012 release, and you can listen to it below.
It was amazing enough to learn that Quentin Tarantino is making a concentrated effort to try and get people to see The Hateful Eight in 70mm, but this is just mind-blowing news. If you weren’t looking forward to the brand new western before, then you absolutely should be now.
