The Hateful Eight managed to secure a spot pretty high on our list of our Top 25 Anticipated 2015 movies, and with good reason. It’s not just the latest film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, but also an intriguing spin on the western genre from the filmmaker – one that sounds as though it blends elements from his Reservoir Dogs and Django Unchained, plus something(s) new.

Samuel L. Jackson, who’s working alongside Tarantino again on Hateful Eight, previously announced via social media that the project has entered production mode on location in Colorado, back in December 2014. However, now The Weinstein Company has made it official, regarding the start of principal photography on the film; an official release date should also be announced, sooner rather than later (though the Weinsteins are hoping to have this one ready to qualify for the 2016 Awards Season).

Jackson’s costars in Hateful Eight includes several familiar Tarantino actors, in the shapes of Kurt Russell, Walton Goggins, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, and Bruce Dern. The new additions to the world of Tarantino moviemaking – playing either one of the eponymous main characters or another pivotal role - include Jennifer Jason Leigh, Demian Bichir, and Channing Tatum.

The supporting cast for Hateful Eight will also feature many a trusted Tarantino collaborator, including his go-to acting/stunt specialist Zoë Bell, as well as James Parks (Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2), Dana Gourrier (Django Unchained), Keith Jefferson (Django Unchained), Lee Horsley (Django Unchained), Craig Stark (Django Unchained) and Belinda Owino (Django Unchained). Joining the – relatively short – list of new people to the Tarantino scene is one Gene Jones (No Country for Old Men).

In case you missed it before, here is the official synopsis for Hateful Eight:

In The Hateful Eight, set six or eight or twelve years after the Civil War, a stagecoach hurtles through the wintry Wyoming landscape. The passengers, bounty hunter John Ruth (Russell) and his fugitive Daisy Domergue (Leigh), race towards the town of Red Rock where Ruth, known in these parts as “The Hangman,” will bring Domergue to justice. Along the road, they encounter two strangers: Major Marquis Warren (Jackson), a black former union soldier turned infamous bounty hunter, and Chris Mannix (Goggins), a southern renegade who claims to be the town’s new Sheriff. Losing their lead on the blizzard, Ruth, Domergue, Warren and Mannix seek refuge at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass. When they arrive at Minnie’s, they are greeted not by the proprietor but by four unfamiliar faces. Bob (Bichir), who’s taking care of Minnie’s while she’s visiting her mother, is holed up with Oswaldo Mobray (Roth), the hangman of Red Rock, cow-puncher Joe Gage (Madsen), and Confederate General Sanford Smithers (Dern). As the storm overtakes the mountainside stopover, our eight travelers come to learn they may not make it to Red Rock after all…

Look for The Hateful Eight to open in U.S. theaters by late 2015.