Grindhouse To Be Split Into 2 Movies?

So Grindhouse bombed at the box office, making only half of the targeted $25 million opening Easter weekend. The Weinstein Co head Harvey Weinstein told Nikki Finke that he is "very disappointed" with the results, and he is considering splitting the double feature into two separate films.

"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."

When analyzing the situation, the film's over 3 hour running time is taking most of the blame for the lackluster opening weekend.

"Our research showed the length kept people away. It was the single biggest deterrent. It was 3 hours and 12 minutes long. grondhouse1.jpgWe originally intended to get it all in in 2 hours, 30 minutes. That would have been a better time. But the movies ran longer, the [fake] trailers ran longer, everything ran longer," said Weinstein.

But will splitting the movies in two help?

It can't hurt. I think Tarantino's Death Proof will play much better as a single film, and Rodriguez' Planet Terror has enough action to sell itself. The two films were originally scheduled to be released individually in international markets, and Harvey is convinced that "splitting it up, we're going to do a hell of a lot better internationally than we did here."

Although I'm not sure adding the "missing reels" will really help the box office or the films watchability. Most people I've talked to loved the missing reel gimmick, and it's one of the biggest laughs in each movie. Harvey also sheds some light on how the film did poorly in Middle America, but played well on the coasts and urban areas. You can read all of the studio head's comments at DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com.