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Tarantino Has Career Weekend with ‘Basterds’

Published by Jeff Leins on: August 24th, 2009

Inglourious BasterdsQuentin Tarantino had the best weekend of his career with Inglourious Basterds scalping an estimated $38.1 million from the box office.  The closest debuts to date were the two volumes of Kill Bill, which only earned mid-20’s in 2003-2004.

The late summer win gives the Weinstein Company a little relief in their troubled financial times.  However, TWC only holds domestic rights (Universal owns overseas distribution), so the Basterds will need to have some legs in the States to make the Bastards any money.  Both studios have struggled lately, which is why I don’t understand the Weinsteins opening another of their movies (Halloween II) a week later.

Basterds has already recouped most of its $70 million with a $65.1 million worldwide bow, picking up 87% positive reviews and generally stellar word of mouth for the revisionist period piece.  Even with campuses filling up soon, the WWII movie should continue to perform.  70% of tickets sold were to people over the age of 25.

Last weekend’s winner, District 9, added another $18.2 million pulling from the same audience as Tarantino.  The science fiction story fell only 49%, a good sign for creativity in filmmaking.  A bad sign is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is still around in third.  It added another $12.2 million to the coffers for an inevitable sequel.

The other newcomer was Robert Rodriguez’s Shorts, an odd match-up of the two Grindhouse directors.  His family film made just $6.4 million as kids prepared to start school again.

Post Grad, starring Alexis Bledel, flopped and placed out of the top 10 with $2.8 million.

3-Day U.S. Weekend Actuals:
1. Inglourious Basterds $38.1 million
2. District 9 $18.2 million
3. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra $12.2 million
4. The Time Traveler’s Wife $9.7 million
5. Julie & Julia $8.8 million
6. Shorts $6.4 million
7. G-Force $4.1 million
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $3.5 million
9. The Ugly Truth $2.8 million
10. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard $2.7 million

  • Inglourious Basterds is a masterpiece! Depicting the Nazis accordingly for their viciousness against the Jews and what most of us would have liked to have occurred against Hitler and his henchmen is in its proper perspective.

    The cinematography and color was awesome. Brad Pitt played a character and a half … the film took turns no one would ever think of and David Bowie’s song was so great … as well as the rest of the soundtrack. The characters were terrific and the acting was excellent.

    Guess it helps that my father fought at Normandy on D-Day through the Battle of the Scheldt in Holland and Belgium to Berlin. I have directed my own film about WWII. GETTYMOVIE is the Getty/Hitler trilogy.

    Tarantino’s work is an absolute masterpiece. He indeed did invent a new shade of red! Really a stunning movie. It is unique directors like Tarantino that inspire one to push the envelope.
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