Quentin Tarantino Confirms He Created Netflix’s Extended ‘Hateful Eight’ Series Version With 25 New Minutes Of Footage

When you assume you make an ass out of you and me. Or so suggests Quentin Tarantino. The filmmaker has surfaced to clear up a bunch of misinformation that has surfaced ever since it came to everyone’s attention that a new version of his 2015 film, “The Hateful Eight” had appeared on Netflix in a mini-series four, divided into four parts. Did Netflix have permission to do so? Did Quentin Tarantino approve and of course, it was just a cut-up to increase views and encourage people to watch the film as a series, rather than maybe shy away from its long three-hour-plus run time, right? Wrong and Tarantino is here to clarify.

READ MORE: Netflix Released ‘The Hateful Eight: Extended Edition’ On Its Streaming Service As A 4-Episode Series

Tarantino read an article over at Slashfilm from the writer who first noticed the mini-series version of “The Hateful Eight” on Netflix and wrote about it, and then decided to call him up and explain it all.

So first up, Tarantino didn’t really have to approve anything because the mini-series version of “The Hateful Eight” is actually an extended edit that he made at Netflix’s suggestion.

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“Netflix came to us and said, ‘Hey, look, if you’d be interested, if there’s even more footage, if you’d be interested in putting it together and in a way that we could show it as three or four episodes, depending on how much extra footage you have, we’d be willing to do that,’” Tarantino explained.

READ MORE: ‘Once Upon A Time’ Producers Say Tarantino’s Latest Is Not A “Manson Movie” & Is His “Most Personal” Film

And the rest is mostly history. Tarantino agreed and went back into the editing bay with editor Fred Raskin to add new footage—approximately 25 minutes—and re-altered the flow and feel of the movie as series.

READ MORE: Cannes Director Says Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time’ Is “Magnificent” & Explains Why The Film Still Isn’t Ready For The Festival

“I don’t know [an exact] timeline as far as how much new footage is in it, but it’s something like about, like, 25 minutes if not more,” he said. “And there are sequences that play very different. We did a whole lot of re-editing, and it plays differently. Some sequences are more similar than others compared to the film, but it has a different feeling.”

Lastly, Tarantino is pretty annoyed by all the armchair experts on social media who claimed the version on Netflix contained no new footage and was just a Netflix edit. The director says a lot of this confusion would be cleared up if people would have just watched the latest version and not running their mouths.

“It’s really frustrating that on one hand, it seems like every website in the world wants to write about it, but no one wants to actually watch it,” Tarantino griped. “So, they could actually see for themselves if it’s different. Like, 42 different websites would rather speculate on if it’s different rather than just watch it. It’s all this misconception. ‘Oh, they’re just replaying the credits…it’s just only what was in the roadshow version.’ No!”

There you have it from the horse’s mouth and yes, the original version is always there to watch it if you prefer it, the director says. The mini-series version of “The Hateful Eight” is new, contains approximately 25 new minutes (or “maybe more,” according to QT) and is a new re-edit. Watch it now and see if you can spot the differences. Meanwhile, Tarantino says his latest film, “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood,” due in July and may premiere as part of the Cannes Film Festival line-up is in the mixing stage. Head to Slashfilm to read the rest of the interview.