Harvey Weinstein is said to be "incredibly disappointed" by the very lackluster opening of
Grindhouse this weekend. In what is a MAJOR KNEE JERK REACTION, Weinstein is contemplating re-cutting the two individual films Planet Terror and Death Proof into two separate features, with additional footage (especially the missing reels) put back into the film along with removing the authentic bad print gimmick and horror trailers to make the flicks viable to stand-alone. Of course, this is already the plan for the movie's release in most of Europe... as Tarantino is expected to tour most of the continent promoting his flick as it is released one country at a time, before Rodriguez's movie is released seperately four or five months later. Weinstein says....
"First of all, I'm incredibly disappointed. We tried to do something new and obviously we didn't do it that well.... It's just a question of how is it going to hang in there. But we could split the movies in a couple of weeks. Make Tarantino's a full-length film, and Rodriguez's too. We'll be adding those 'two missing reels' that's talked about in the movie."
Personally, I think this is a very dumb move. If it was done at the end of the summer and possibly for the horror season of August - November (especially October) then it could work just fine, but re-releasing the movie at the end of this month is dumb for several reasons.... 1) The cost of marketing the movie will add a huge amount to the budget of the movie, which already looks to have been a big financial failure. 2) If you do re-release the film in a couple of weeks, you are going to be up against the mighty
Spider-Man 3,
Hot Fuzz (which is likely to have a similar audience) and if they are going to wait until mid-to late May.....
28 Weeks Later and
Pirates of the Caribbean 3. 3) Do your REALLY think that you are going to entice that many people who didn't see the flick, back into theatres... because I don't. I hope by the time I go to America next week, it will still be playing as is..... I've been looking forward to having the Grindhouse experience for well over a year now. source -
aicn,
deadline hollywood daily