Double feature Grindhouse co-directed by **Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino bombed on it’s first day of release. Another bomb for the Weinstein brothers (**Harvey and Bob).
But the hard “R”-rated pic should take in just $13.5 million this weekend — nowhere near even the lowest $20 mil opening predicted (or the $25 mil debut anticipated after midnight sneaks were added in major cities).
The weekend take will be far, far below the openings for, say, Rodriguez’s Sin City ($29.1 mil) or Tarantino’s Kill Bill 1 ($22 mil) and 2 ($25.1 mil).
The Weinstein Co. has been plagued by bomb after bomb since its 2005 inception after Miramax founders Harvey and Bob couldn’t come to terms with Disney. It had a lot riding on this pic in terms of reputation. (Not to mention money: I hear the real budget for Grindhouse is at $67.5 mil though Harvey and Bob were spinning it as low $50s.)
Clearly, the Weinsteins’ legendary prowess for media exploitation, which had been working overtime on this exploitation movie, couldn’t hide the problems of a running time over 3 hours, a release date delayed by half a year, and the subject matter’s limited audience appeal. Plus, younger and hungrier directors in recent years have been pushing the envelope to create wilder and rawer horror pics, so it seems Tarantino and Rodriguez couldn’t compete on their more famous playing field.
Congrats Weinstein’s, it couldn’t have happened to two worse people. Maybe one day you will wise up and quit throwing telephones at your employees and cursing out everyone you disagree with.