Ebert and Roeper gave it two thumbs way up, most critics hail it as "bloody good fun", and audiences say its the most fun movie experience they have had in a long time... well, audiences who actually went to see it. The new double feature Grindhouse by directors/writers, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez was expected to make atleast $20 million dollars its opening weekend, however it made a little over half of that with only $10 million.This was a big upset for The Weinstein Company, the producers of the film, considering Grindhouse needs to make $50 million in theaters in order for it to not be a flop.
Many people speculate that the film did not gross so well because of its length, which runs just over three hours. This three hours includes the two feature films, Planet Terror and Death Proof, as well as fake movie trailers directed by friends of Rodriguez and Tarantino.
There have been talks about separating the two films in hopes that people will be more enticed to go, however it is in the opinion of this blogger that the film did not gross so well due to bad marketing strategies.
This is a bloody, gory, fun mess, perfect for summer audiences when kids are out of school and people have time to spend 3 hours at a movie theater. Not in the middle of April. Also, the film opened Easter weekend, which is a big family holiday. Being that it is a family holiday, people will be more interested in seeing family friendly films like Blades of Glory, Meet the Robinsons, and Are We Done Yet.
Hopefully word will spread on the brilliance and fun of Grindhouse and more audiences will go see it this weekend, because it is certainly better than all of the other films who gained the people's money.
