Correction: The original article only says he will publish the script, not necessarily rewrite it as a novel. That was my own assumption, which came about because he’s been talking about writing a novel for a while now, but clearly there is no evidence of that as of yet.

Last week we learned that Quentin Tarantino had finished writing the first draft of his next script, tentatively titled The Hateful Eight, and that he was starting to pursue a handful of actors for major roles in it. That involved sending some of the actors (and their agents) a copy of the script. Unfortunately, despite the fact that it was still a work in progress, it didn’t take long for the script to find its way outside this circle of people he had entrusted with it. The leak has made Tarantino absolutely furious, and as punishment for the betrayal he has since decided to not to move forward with the movie. He claims that he will simply publish the script in book form instead. Here’s what he had to say:

“I’m very, very depressed. I finished a script, a first draft, and I didn’t mean to shoot it until next winter, a year from now. I gave it to six people, and apparently it’s gotten out today… I don’t know how these fucking agents work, but I’m not making this next. I’m going to publish it, and that’s it for now. I give it out to six people, and if I can’t trust them to that degree, then I have no desire to make it. I’ll publish it. I’m done. I’ll move on to the next thing. I’ve got 10 more where that came from.”

While this is not the first time that a Tarantino script has leaked, the fact that it came at such an early stage and from such a small group of people has really set him off. Tarantino says he only gave the script to a handful of people including three actors: Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, and Tim Roth. He suspects that the breach came from CAA, who represent Dern, although he doesn’t blame Dern for it.

Either way, he seems to have another project already developing in his head, and he promises that Dern will have a major role in that as well. It still seems like an incredibly immature and selfish reaction to the problem, but perhaps it is good that he’s making a statement. Script leaks, especially early drafts, can damage a film that is still in development. What do you think, is Tarantino overreacting here? Will he hold true to his word or will he eventually shoot The Hateful Eight as a movie anyway?