<P> Tarantino announced The Hateful Eight in November 2013 . He conceived it as a novel and sequel to his previous film Django Unchained (2012) before deciding to make it a standalone film . After the script leaked in January 2014, he cancelled the film, directed a live reading at the United Artists Theater in Los Angeles, then announced that he had changed his mind . Filming began on December 8, 2014, near Telluride, Colorado . The original score was Ennio Morricone's first for a Tarantino film, his first complete Western score in 34 years, and his first for a high - profile Hollywood production since Brian De Palma's Mission to Mars in 2000 . </P> <P> Distributed by The Weinstein Company in the United States, The Hateful Eight was released on December 25, 2015, in a roadshow release in 70 mm film . It had a wide digital release on December 30, 2015 . It received positive reviews, with Leigh receiving considerable praise . For his work on the score, Morricone won the Golden Globe and his first Academy Award for Best Original Score . The film also earned Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress (Leigh) and Best Cinematography (Robert Richardson). </P> <P> Years after the Civil War, bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren is transporting three dead bounties to the town of Red Rock, Wyoming . He hitches a ride on a stagecoach driven by O.B. Jackson . Aboard is John Ruth, a bounty hunter known for bringing in outlaws alive to see them hang; handcuffed to him is fugitive Daisy Domergue, whom Ruth is escorting to Red Rock . Ruth is suspicious of anyone who might steal his claim to the bounty . Ruth and Warren bond over Warren's personal letter from Abraham Lincoln . </P> <P> Former Lost - Causer militiaman Chris Mannix, who claims he is traveling to Red Rock as the town's new sheriff, persuades Ruth and Warren to let him on the stagecoach . Warren and Ruth form an alliance to protect each other's bounties . Mannix and Warren almost come to blows over their controversial war records . </P>

What year does the hateful eight take place