GRINDHOUSE

Grindhouse

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  [Total: 62 Average: 4.3]
  Genre(s): Horror | Action

• Directed By: Robert Rodriguez & Quentin Tarantino
• Written By: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
• Release Date: April 6, 2007
• Domestic Distributor: The Weinstein Company
• Cast: Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson
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Box Office Info:

Budget: $53 million	Financed by: The Weinstein Company
Domestic Gross: $25,037,897	Overseas Gross: $41,919,376

“I learned a big lesson with Grindhouse and I try not to repeat the mistake. Robert Rodriguez and I had gotten used to going our own way, on these weird roads, and having the audience come along. We’d started thinking they’d go wherever we wanted. With Grindhouse, that proved not to be the case. It was still worth doing, but it would have been better if we weren’t caught so unaware by how uninterested people were.”
–Quentin Tarantino

Grindhouse was financed by The Weinstein Company, for what was to be two 60 minute features with a $40 million price tag, but the combined movies (plus faux trailers) ballooned into 191 minutes and the budget increased to $53 million.  The Weinstein Company was going to release the film through their distribution deal with MGM, which included a lucrative TV deal for the film to play on Showtime, but directors Tarantino and Rodriguez requested that The Weinstein Co release the film themselves.

Grindhouse was to play as a double bill in the US/Canada, UK, Australia/New Zealand and South Africa, but would be split and play separately in every other market to recoup extra sales when The Weinstein Company pre-sold the movies overseas.  The films sold very well to distributors and would cover a reported $46 million of the $53 million budget for The Weinstein Company.

Grindhouse was originally going to open in September 2006, but both Planet Terror and Death Proof were behind schedule and it was pushed back to the Easter weekend on April 6, 2007.  TWC heavily marketed the film in the US, to push Grindhouse to audiences as an event.  Grindhouse bowed against another genre entry The Reaping and also Are We Done Yet? and Firehouse Dog.

Reviews were strong and Grindhouse was tracking for an opening north of $20 million, but flopped with $11,596,613 — placing #4 for the weekend led by holdover Blades of Glory.  Even with a solid B+ cinemascore from audiences and revamped marketing after the disappointing opening, the picture sank 62.6% in its second weekend to $4,331,372 killing its chance at breaking out.  Grindhouse continued to post large weekly declines and closed its domestic run with a terrible $25,037,897.  TWC would see back about $13.75 million after theaters take their percentage of the gross.

When the film pulled in poor numbers in the US, overseas distributors who were going to release Grindhouse as a double bill panicked and split the two films.  Death Proof pulled in $30,663,961 across numerous distributors and Planet Terror cumed $10,871,224.  The double bill was given a tiny run where it made all of $384,191.