Quentin Tarantino's "Hateful Eight" script leaked back in January and the entire script for his new movie was leaked by Gawker. Tarantino told Deadline at that time that he was "very, very depressed" at the time. He had given the "first draft" to only six people, and felt very betrayed by the leak. "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," said the Django Unchained director to Deadline. He also sued Gawker for leaking his entire script online according to the Hollywood Reporter.

On Saturday, Film Independent held a staged reading at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Tarantino said at the event that he is working on second and third drafts for "Hateful Eight." "This is the first draft," he told the audience. According to Variety, the reading revealed a few potential members of the cast of "Hateful Eight," including Samuel L. Jackson in the role of Major Marquis Warren, Bruce Dern as Confederate General Smithers, and Kurt Russell as a bounty hunter named John Ruth. Amber Tamblyn will star as John Ruth's prisoner Daisy Domergue. Walton Goggins will star as Chris Mannix, Denis Menochet as the Frenchman Bob, Tim Roth as the Englishman Oswaldo Mobray, Michael Madsen as John Gage, Dana Gourrier as Minnie, Zoe Bell as Six Horse Judy and James Remar as Jody. Tarantino repeatedly called attention to the snowy Wyoming setting, post-Civil War, to be shot in "70 mm gloriousness" during the reading. Like every Tarantino script, the script is violent, bloody, and laced with profanity. "We've been rehearsing this for the last 3 days and we're not bad," Tarantino said about the reading.

The Gawker vs. Tarantino trial date is set for January 27, 2015.