Quentin Tarantino has recently found himself at the center of controversy—again—after he went to a protest against police brutality and made some comments that angered police officers and has resulted in an ever-spreading boycott by police unions and organizations across the country. He’s also got the head of the Fraternal Order of Police making veiled threats about “surprises” that Tarantino can expect, which is really f*cking creepy. Amidst this furor, the second trailer for The Hateful Eight was released, and it still looks f*cking awesome. Between this and The Revenant, I’d so much rather see The Hateful Eight. I’m so into Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Tarantino + Samuel L. Jackson has always been golden. Word is, this is the best part QT has given Jackson yet.
But will the boycott hurt it? It’s really hard to measure the impact of a boycott, but it will be especially hard this year because New New Star Wars is going to crush everything anyway. Wisely, Eight is only opening in limited release on Christmas day, then goes wide a couple weeks later on January 8. They’re not even going to try taking a bite out of Star Wars’ pie. And so far, Harvey Weinstein hasn’t insisted that QT apologize. That might backfire—controversy didn’t help Zero Dark Thirty—but basically this is just free advertising for Tarantino and Eight. Besides, the people who are inclined to boycott a Tarantino movie weren’t going to see a Tarantino movie in the first place, QT’s fans won’t care, and everyone else will be at Star Wars.
