Filmstalker: Grindhouse splits for UK with no US re-release

It appears that the UK release of Grindhouse is now to have the same fate as the rest of the non-US releases, it is now going to be released as two separate films rather than one long double bill.

Previously the release schedule was for a double bill in the UK as well as the US. It seems that with the failure of the film in the US the distributors are going to try and make sure the other worldwide releases crawl something back.

The story from Teletext has a comment from the Roadshow Film Distributors which I think is very disheartening and reactionary news:

"In keeping with the theatrical release plans for all territories outside of the US, Grindhouse will now be released as two separate theatrical features."

After the failure in the US they are obviously panicking and thinking that this is purely down to the fact that the film is so long, after all no film that long has ever been a success (sarcasm!). So since the obvious reason is the double bill, they're going to fix it for the rest of the world and we'll see taking soar. Well for one we will, because they will be two separate releases and therefore two separate tickets to buy.

Interestingly there's other news about Grindhouse from JoBlo about the proposed US re-release which would see the film split into two. Apparently it's not going to happen.

According to the guys the Weinstein Company tested various ways of making the US release work, and one of these was to show the film in two separate parts and also as one complete film with an intermission. They tried both in various cinemas in the US and results were very disappointing, neither showed an increase in returns.

So it looks likely that the possible re-release in the US is dead. Now the accountants look to the rest of the world.

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Comments

Posted by: Billy | April 18, 2007 2:38 PM

That's just crap.

They should respect that it was Designed to be seen back-to-back.

Posted by: _ram-jaane | April 18, 2007 3:04 PM

That sucks man. Sorry you can't see it correctly.

But it makes TOTAL sense money wise. The only people seeing this movie are obviously the big fans. So they'll absolutely pay twice to see them both.

If people buy their ticket for one, they should get a free pass to see the other film - or at least a discounted price.

Posted by: Drewbacca | April 18, 2007 4:16 PM

It's too bad they won't be showing this as one 3 hour show because it really is the best way to see it however, it'll be interesting to see if this break actually makes them any more money and which of the two is most popular with fans. I have a feeling "Planet Terror" might be the fan favourite though I still think "Death Proof" is the better of the two films.

Posted by: Marina | April 18, 2007 5:03 PM

The story seems to have one major piece of information wrong, mainly the fact that Roadshow Film Distributors, aren't distributing Grindhouse in the UK, Momentum are.

In fact no one called anything like Roadshow is distributing Grindhouse anywhere in the world according to IMDB.

Hopefully this story has no basis in truth.

Posted by: Gavin | April 18, 2007 6:31 PM

Well I would believe IMDB as much as the unsourced Teletext story.

It would make total sense though as Drew says, money wise it's the best idea. Also it would mean the UK was the only place not having it split outside of the US and with the US bombing, well, recouping cash is a priority.

However filmmaker wise it really isn't fair as it was intended to be seen this way, but we all know the money wins out.

Posted by: Richard Brunton | April 18, 2007 8:57 PM

I'll still see it back to back .. with a small intermission :) Did the US release have an interval break?

Posted by: _ram-jaane' | April 18, 2007 10:07 PM

There was no intermission at my theater. It ran as Machete, Planet Terror, the other 3 fake trailers and some fluff, and Death Proof. Sorry to hear that non-US audiences will not get the full experience, but I'm hopeful it will turn the financial situation around.

Posted by: hap | April 18, 2007 11:00 PM

,B>*Simone rants*

How hard is it to mention a source for a story?

Posted by: Simone | April 18, 2007 11:05 PM

Seems to happen all the time with that person Simone. One of the writers gave me a mention the other day.

Posted by: Richard Brunton | April 19, 2007 6:30 AM