'Grindhouse' Friday Analysis

Filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez didn?t quite get the opening they were hoping for this weekend with Grindhouse, their three-hour double feature homage of old-school cult flicks. The film took in a meager $5.0 million on Friday, which is exactly in line with Samuel L. Jackson?s Snakes on a Plane from last summer ? the other heavily hyped shlockfest. Even with the names involved, Grindhouse crashed. The film seemed to play best in big cities; but even there, attendance varied from theater to theater. Diehards were given an early screening of the feature on Thursday night at 10:00, limitedly; the Grauman?s Chinese in Hollywood was filled with eager fans on Thursday and Friday night, but with these filmmakers that's to be expected.

So, after the success of Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2, and Sin City, what happened with Grindhouse? The Weinstein Company opted to release the feature as one package this time, while Kill Bill was originally a four-hour piece that had to be edited down to two films. Grindhouse was facing a grueling running time that could turn off anyone who was remotely skeptical; outside of the truest of cult fans, how many people would really put up with three hours? Had Kill Bill actually been one long film released into theaters, a debut as such could've happened back then. Is it possible that Tarantino got his wish this time as a result of two back-to-back $60 million grosses?

People usually watch campy flicks as such in the confinements of their own home; and usually late at night when no one else is around (and when they can fall asleep to them). Grindhouse was meant to gather a selective and very hyper film group for one night. However, that also alienates a big group of people who just don?t want to be affiliated with an overlong cheesefest.

Grindhouse's Saturday could go down to $3.5 to 4 million, which could put its weekend at just $12 - 13 million. Snakes, which had 3,555 theaters, grossed $13.8 million; its dailies were $5.0, 5.1, and 3.8 million. Snakes on a Plane opened in summer as an advantage and was much shorter in duration; whereas Grindhouse may not be so lucky in its holdup. The debut should be right in between Rodriguez? From Dusk Till Dawn, and Snakes.