Legendary Italian composer Ennio Morricone will score The Hateful Eight for Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained), the director revealed to audiences during the movie’s panel at Comic Con.
While the news may not come as a surprise to those who remember the two’s collaborations in some of Tarantino’s previous efforts – including Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2, Death Proof, Inglourious Basterds, and Django Unchained – the difference here becomes that it will be Morricone’s first Western score in forty years. Also of note, is that Morricone’s score for The Hateful Eight will be an original piece. While Morricone’s music has been featured in Tarantino’s films previously, much of that music was gathered from prior films. Morricone only had two original pieces for Django Unchained – Norme con ironie and Ancora Qui – while the rest of his music featured in the film came from older projects. Likewise, Morricone’s music in Inglourious Basterds was collected from older scores. Tarantino had originally wanted Morricone to produce original material for Basterds, but after scheduling conflicts, Tarantino went ahead without the famed composer.
Also of note, was rumors of some sort of rift between the two, after it was revealed that Morricone criticized Tarantino’s use and placement of his music in Django Unchained, but Morricone later went on to say he was misunderstood, quelling any supposed ill will between the men.
For Morricone, whose work spans as far back as the 50s, with hundreds upon hundreds of original material for film and television, his defining achievement may still be his work with frequent collaborator and personal friend Sergio Leone (The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly). Morricone’s music in Leone’s Dollars Trilogy is one of the definitive marks of not only those respective films, but of the Spaghetti Western genre in general, so a return to the Western for Morricone is quite a big deal for score enthusiasts and fans of the composer. Morricone also received five Oscar nominations for composing memorable scores to films as varied as Terrence Malick’s Days of Heaven (1979) and Barry Levinson’s Bugsy (1991).
The Hateful Eight will see a Christmas Day release. Also, check out the new poster for The Hateful Eight below.
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