Movies - TV
Pulp Fiction Changed How Studios Saw Quentin Tarantino's From Dusk Till Dawn
By JEREMY SMITH
According to an EW retrospective, no one in Hollywood believed in Quentin Tarantino's script for “From Dusk Till Dawn,” as the story questionably went from an RV-bound, Tex-Mex riff on Jack Starrett's “Race with the Devil” to a vampire-laden gorefest. Miramax, the studio that would ultimately come to make “From Dusk Till Dawn,” didn’t believe in it until executives saw “Pulp Fiction.”
Co-director Robert Rodriguez told EW the film’s tonal shift was a non-starter at Miramax until the studio saw the unusual structure of “Pulp Fiction.” He said, “We were young filmmakers, we were really testing the boundaries. People were going, 'This is all wrong; it's two movies in one.' After 'Pulp Fiction,' everybody wanted to make it, and they'd go, 'It's two movies in one; it's fantastic!'”
“From Dusk Till Dawn” isn't a classic, but it's an enormous amount of bloody fun that gave George Clooney his first bona fide theatrical success. Sadly, 27 years later, it may still be the best film Rodriguez has made, so it might be time for another two-in-one cinematic extravaganza.