Veteran Hollywood stars take part in live reading of Quentin Tarantino's axed sequel to Django Unchained

Veteran director says the sequel, called The Hateful Eight, may yet see the light of day

Quentin Tarantino, director (Getty)

Samuel L Jackson and Michael Madsen have taken part in a reading of Quentin Tarantino’s axed follow-up to Django Unchained.

The script for the film, called The Hateful Eight, was planned as a sequel to the award-winning box office hit.

But when the screenplay leaked around Hollywood and appeared on film websites, the veteran director shelved the project.

The script, a Western movie consisting of four ‘chapters’, was described by The Hollywood Reporter as an Agatha Christie-style whodunit, with a dose of characteristic Tarantino violence.

Set in post-civil war Wyoming, the Western drama features a group of mismatched outlaws who find themselves stranded in a “"haberdashery” after a blizzard diverts a stagecoach from its route.

Several actors who had appeared in Tarantino’s films took part in the live reading, which was narrated by the director himself and featured a cast including Tim Roth (Resevoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction), Kurt Russell (Death Proof) and Amber Tamblyn (Django Unchained).

Speaking to the audience at the Los Angeles’ Theatre at the Ace Hotel, the 51 year-old director even hinted that the sequel could be released in the future, and that he was working on a second draft.

According to the BBC, around 1,200 people attended the show with top-price tickets fetching $200 (£120). But Tarantino fans not in attendance will have to wait for the film’s release as there was no live stream of the event and mobile phones were strictly banned.

The director is pursuing legal action against gossip website Gawker for contributory copyright infringement after it posted a link to the leaked script.