Quentin Tarantino says he won’t be making the film that was next on his roster because someone leaked the script, and although he doesn’t know for sure who did it, he’s narrowed down the choices because only a few people were privy to it.

The “Django Unchained” director reportedly found out his script for “The Hateful Eight” had been making rounds in Hollywood when several agents got in touch with his agent to try and get their clients an audition.

“I gave it to one of the producers on Django Unchained, Reggie Hudlin, and he let an agent come to his house and read it,” Tarantino said. “That’s a betrayal, but not crippling because the agent didn’t end up with the script. There is an ugly maliciousness to the rest of it. I gave it to three actors: Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth. The one I know didn’t do this is Tim Roth. One of the others let their agent read it, and that agent has now passed it on to everyone in Hollywood. 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.”

The film, which was to be the second western for Tarantino, has been a passion project for him since he finished with Django.

“I had so much fun doing Django, and I love westerns so much that after I taught myself how to make one, it’s like ‘OK! Let me make another one now that I know what I’m doing,'” he said recently.

Although Tarantino had only recently announced the film–and the title–there’s been a lot of anticipation in both Hollywood and among the director’s fans for a new western, and there have been rumors that a role was created for Christoph Waltz, though Tarantino hasn’t confirmed that. Now, he says, he wants to move on.

“I am not talking out of both sides of my mouth, because I do like the fact that everyone eventually posts it, gets it and reviews it on the net,” Tarantino said. “Frankly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I like the fact that people like my shit, and that they go out of their way to find it and read it. But I gave it to six motherfucking people! Starting this week, I’ll be setting meetings with publishers….I could totally change my mind; I own the fucking thing. But I can tell you, it’s not going to be the next thing I do. It’s my baby, and if the muse calls me later to do it, we’ll do it. I was thinking about the idea of maybe publishing it before I made it, but now that deal happens for sure, and I’m not doing it next.”

Image via Wikimedia Commons