Why ‘Grindhouse’ Failed, According To Quentin Tarantino
Grindhouse, a big double-feature fromRobert RodriguezandQuentin Tarantinocomplete with fake trailers fromEdgar Wright,Rob Zombie, andEli Roth, arrived in 2007, and promptly bombed. Despite the hype, and the prospect of seeing to rebel auteurs like Rodriguez and Tarantino join forces, audiences just didn’t seem to give a damn, and the release only took in $25.4 million against a reported $53–67 million budget. So what happened? Looking back on the experience now, Quentin Tarantino says he and Rodriguez misjudged the movie-going public’s interest in such an experiment.
Grindhouse
I can distinctly remember seeingGrindhouseopening weekend in 2007. It was ahugedeal to me and some of my film-loving friends – Tarantino and Rodriguez, who were both indie movie legends at that point, teaming up to pay tribute to grindhouse-style cinema. Sign me the hell up! But I also remember that the theater was pretty much empty that opening weekend, and that was a sign of things to come – the film (or rather,films) flopped.
Empireasked Tarantino for his opinion on why the movie failed, and the director was honest in saying he and Rodriguez probably misjudged how much audiences might give a s*** about their little experience:
Grindhousedidn’t open in its full form in the UK – there, Tarantino’sDeath Proofwas released as its own movie. And the filmmaker revealed that he and some famous friends went out to catch the movie in a UK cinema, and got a bit of a rude awakening at first glance:
I think time has been kind to theGrindhouseexperience, especiallyDeath Proof, which has gone on to be a kind of cult classic for Tarantino. I’ll admit that I didn’t loveDeath Proofwhen I saw it at first, but having revisited the film in recent years, I think it holds up exceptionally well. And whileGrindhousemay have failed, it was still a neat experiment – the likes of which I can’t imagine a studio taking a risk on again these days.
