Death Proof Fails to Stand Alone in the UK

Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: Weinstein Company, Action, Thrillers, Box Office, Distribution, New Releases

Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof opened in the UK last week, its producers, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, hopefully anticipating the result of their decision to split the film from its counterpart, Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror. But without the nostalgia of a bygone B-movie tradition and the novelty of a rare double-feature bridged together with wonderfully cheesy trailers in a faux-intermission, the film didn’t manage to captivate British audiences; if it did, they certainly weren’t compelled to go to the theater in great numbers. The film debuted in a pathetic sixth place at the box-office (£407,525 or $821,623) behind only one other opener: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, which came in third.

As you may recall, Grindhouse walked away from the US box-office with a measly $24.9 million despite critical praise, something The Weinsteins chalked up to the uniqueness of the movie coupled with a long run-time and poor marketing. The decision to split the film into two separate entities for overseas distribution and DVD release was an attempt to recoup the losses incurred by that poor US performance. The marketing for the UK release of Death Proof hinged on Tarantino’s name and credibility, since he’d had successful openings in the past (Reservoir Dogs actually had better attendance there than in the US).

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Read More | Guardian Unlimited

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This Week on DVD:  September 18, 2007

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Lionsgate, New Line, Picturehouse, Paramount, Warner Bros, Action, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Sports, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few of the titles you can find on the rental shelves this Tuesday:

• Grindhouse: Death Proof:  starring Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Rosario Dawson (watch our review here)
• We Are Marshall:  starring Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox
• Lucky You:  starring Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, Robert Duvall
• The Condemned:  starring ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin
• Gracie:  starring Carly Schroeder, Elizabeth Shue, Dermot Mulroney
• Saturday Night Fever (30th Anniversary Edition):  starring John Travolta, Karen Gorney
• Flashdance (Special Collector’s Edition):  starring Jennifer Beals, Michael Nouri
• Wall Street (Special Collector’s Edition):  starring Michael Douglas, Charlie Sheen, Daryl Hannah

NOTE:  Click here to see the TV-On-DVD options for this week.

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