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BASTERDS Scalp the Competition

Basterds is Taraninto's best opening ever.

By Jarrod Sarafin     August 23, 2009


Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds takes 1st place at the box office(2009).
© Bob Trate

 

With Inglourious Basterds collecting Nazi scalps and the Jew Hunter (Christoph Waltz) chasing after them, it was a weekend where a lot of parents took a breather from last-minute school shopping for their young ones and chose to partake in some blood & bullets via Quentin Tarantino’s WWII opus.
The Weinstein Company and co-distributors Universal Pictures unleashed his latest film into 3,165 theaters across the nation and scored up an estimated $37.6 million in ticket sales as a result. This has the ensemble flick—led by Brad Pitt---averaging a respectable $11,881 per showing with audiences and the debut also has it in great shape for a profitable return.
The Basterds launch is clearly Tarantino’s best opening to date, far surpassing his second best score of $25.1 million from 2004’s Kill Bill: Vol. 2. And he kept his budget relatively low to the tune of $70 million so with the film making more than half that in its first three days, it’s in much better shape than his last underperforming venture, Grindhouse: Death Proof.
The film was also Quentin’s highest grossing international launch by racking up another $27.5 million over the weekend from 2,630 locations in 22 markets, claiming the No. 1 spot with a respectable $10,456 per-screen average for foreign audiences. With both domestic and international combined, the film has a worldwide gross of $65.1 million after three days of release.
Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi film, District 9, grabbed another $18.9 million over the weekend to increase its overall domestic cume to $73.4 million. It seems a certainty that it will be crossing the $100 mil mark by the first weeks of September. Good numbers for a film that reportedly cost only $30-$50 million to produce.
Paramount’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra follows in 3rd place by pulling in another $12.5 million in 3,953 theaters this weekend. While it seems unlikely the film will approach its $175 million budget here in the states with a current domestic cume of $120.5 million, the film is still pulling in decent numbers overseas as well.
The Joes pulled in a second-best $14 million this weekend in 51 territories to increase its international gross to $118 million. When combined together, the Sommers-directed action film has a worldwide tally of $238.5 million after 17 days of release.
After it’s first two weekends in theaters, Warner Bros. (New Line) finds the 4th place spot with their adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife. The Eric Bana-Rachel McAdams romantic feature scored another $10.0 million over the weekend to increase its domestic performance to $37.4 million. Good numbers since the production’s price tag is listed at $39 million.
And taking up the 5th place spot is Julie & Julia, which found another $9.0 million in its third weekend of release. Another August success story for Sony Pictures (beyond the aforementioned District 9), the Meryl Streep vehicle has a domestic cume of $59.2 million against a budget of only $40 million. It’s definitely a decent month for the folks over at Sony.
Before we go, we should note that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is about jump up a few box office ladders in terms of Warner Bros.' best-selling franchise. With the film landing in 8th place this weekend with another $3.5 million to its name, it now has a domestic gross of $290.2 million.
The weekend pushed the film into 3rd place overall for the Potter franchise, just ahead of Goblet of Fire ($290.0 mil) and just below Order of the Phoenix ($292.0 mil). By next weekend it will be in 2nd place spot and that’s where it will likely stay. It has no chance to catch the best box office score of The Sorcerer’s Stone ($317.5 mil).
The sixth Potter adventure is also clearly the best worldwide performer of the year thus far, with an impressive $868.2 million after 40 days of release. Can anyone top that tally for 2009? We shall see in the winter…
 

Rank
Movie
Weekend
Theater
Average
Total
Budget
1
Inglourious Basterds
$37.6 mil
3,165
$11,881
$37.6 mil
$70
2
District 9
$18.9 mil
3,050
$6,197
$73.4 mil
$30
3
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
$12.5 mil
3,953
$3,162
$120.5 mil
$175
4
The Time Traveler’s Wife
$10.0 mil
2,988
$3,355
$37.4 mil
$39
5
Julie & Julia
$9.0 mil
2,463
$3,654
$59.2 mil
$40
6
Shorts
$6.6 mil
3,105
$2,126
$6.6 mil
----
7
G-Force
$4.2 mil
2,561
$1,642
$107.3 mil
----
8
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
$3.5 mil
1,936
$1,816
$290.2 mil
$250
9
The Ugly Truth
$2.8 mil
1,971
$1,446
$82.8 mil
$38
10
Post Grad
$2.8 mil
1,959
$1,429
$2.8 mil
----

 
Here’s the top 10 worldwide grossing films of the summer. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the obvious domestic champion as it nears the $400 million mark here in the states but for worldwide performance, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the best.
 
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Numbers:
Budget: $250 mil
Opening: $77.8 mil
Domestic: $290.2 mil
Foreign: $578.0 mil
Worldwide: $868.2 mil 
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Numbers:
Budget: $200 mil
Opening: $108.9 mil
Domestic: $398.4 mil
Foreign: $427.8 mil
Worldwide: $826.2 mil
 
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Numbers:
Budget: $90 mil
Opening: $41.6 mil
Domestic: $192.4 mil
Foreign: $601.2 mil
Worldwide: $793.6 mil
 
Angels & Demons Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $46.2 mil
Domestic: $133.3 mil
Foreign: $350.4 mil
Worldwide: $483.8 mil
 
Up Numbers:
Budget: $175 mil
Opening: $68.1 mil
Domestic: $288.5 mil
Foreign: $128.0 mil
Worldwide: $416.5 mil
 
The Hangover Numbers:
Budget: $35 mil
Opening: $44.9 mil
Domestic: $268.3 mil
Foreign: $136.7 mil
Worldwide: $405.0 mil
 
Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian Numbers
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $54.1 mil
Domestic: $176.0 mil
Foreign: $221.6 mil
Worldwide: $397.6 mil
 
Star Trek Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $75.2 mil
Domestic: $256.3 mil
Foreign: $126.3 mil
Worldwide: $382.7 mil
 
Terminator Salvation Numbers:
Budget: $200 mil
Opening: $42.5 mil
Domestic: $125.1 mil
Foreign: $245.3 mil
Worldwide: $370.4 mil    
X-Men Origins: Wolverine Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $85.0 mil
Domestic: $179.8 mil
Foreign: $183.5 mil
Worldwide: $363.3 mil
 
 
Those are the top 10 worldwide performers for this summer. If you’re wondering how the latest releases of G.I. Joe, District 9 and Inglourious Basterds are faring, here’s their numbers as well.
 
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra Numbers:
Budget: $175 mil
Opening: $54.7 mil
Domestic: $120.5 mil
Foreign: $118.0 mil
Worldwide: $238.5 mil
District 9:
Budget: $30 mil
Opening: $37.3 mil
Domestic: $73.4 mil
Foreign: $7.6 mil
Worldwide: $81.1 mil
Inglourious Basterds Numbers:
Budget: $70 mil
Opening: $37.6 mil
Domestic: $37.6 mil
Foreign: $27.5 mil
Worldwide: $65.1 mil
 
Friday August 28, 2009 Releases:
Wide
The Final Destination (3,000+)
Halloween 2 (3,000+)
Limited
Mystery Team
Taking Woodstock
The September Issue

MOVIES REVIEWS

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

Showing items 1 - 10 of 35
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hanso 8/23/2009 2:17:03 PM

Fail Gi JOE fail so that 5 years from now a reboot can happen and make things right!

Inglorious Basterd was pretty good, be warned the basterds aren't in it much.  Still very good film, glad to see Tarantino back.

Did anyone see the trailer for Inception?  Let me know how it was if you did.

JarrodSarafin 8/23/2009 2:38:03 PM

It wasn't before my print of Basterds. A bootleg has been online this weekend but with the official HD trailer hitting tomorrow morning, I'll wait until then to update that Inception website story on the homepage. The trailer should be on Yahoo and that official Inception website tomorrow morning.

As far as Basterds is concerned, I most definitely had a blast with it. Pitt's team was great but Chrisoph Waltz most definitely stole the show with his devious Hans Landa character.

Wiseguy 8/23/2009 2:49:07 PM

Agree with Jarrod about Waltz. I mention him on the review thread and said I'd love to see him more in American films.

Was his name supposed to be a play on the Star Wars characters?
 

\Anmd was that Harvey Keitel at the end on the radio with Aldo?

Wiseguy 8/23/2009 2:55:20 PM

So far the top ten I picked back in April are all there except for Hangover which I don't think anyone had picked or even heard of back then replacing the summer's biggest bomb Land of the Lost. Of course not in order though.

Jarrod, by saying that QT "kept the budget relatively low this time around" you make it sound as though the guy throws money around. This is his most expensive film by far. Grindhouse cost 67mil but that was for 2 films basically and Kill Bill was 30mil (don't know if 30 a piece or the entire thing). Never the less the guy is pretty good with budgets. Hell, Pulp Fiction was 8 mil.

Inglorious Basterds was great IMO, I rank it 3rd tied with Kill Bill or maybe just below as as QT films go. But I enjoyed the entire 2 and a half hours. And would be down for the rumored prequel as long as it's about the Basterds and not their lives before that.
 

JarrodSarafin 8/23/2009 3:00:33 PM

Yep, that was Keitel. Loved his and Samuel's cameo voice performances.

Wiseguy 8/23/2009 3:15:17 PM

Yeah, if I was a director I would require a bit for Harvey Keitel in everything I do. I think the guy is awesome. If I wasn't the man I am I'd want to be the man he is :)  Didn't see his name credited so wasn't sure

Have to add that I was way off this weekend. Thought IB wouldn't even vie for first. Thought it would be D9 or Shorts. Shorts did pretty bad and D-9 fell off more that I thought it would. Can't see it catching Hangover now for sleeper hit.

Hooray for GI Joe, let's get rolling on that sequel. Here it isn't just the b.o. the studio gets a cut of the toy sales too.

halodownmd 8/23/2009 3:20:31 PM

Anyone catch (500) Days of Summer yet? I saw it this weekend, very good movie...

hanso 8/23/2009 3:34:56 PM

I almost did.  I think I will next week if it's still showing.  Gotta see that and hopefully I can make it to The Goods.

 

Whiskeymovie 8/23/2009 5:32:12 PM

Who would of thought in the beginning of the summer that the Hangover would have done better numbers than Wolverine, Terminator or Star Trek......Wolverine I am not surprised, but I really liked Terminator and Star Trek,,,,I haven't seen the Hangover yet, but I am sure it is great.......G.I. Joe was what I expected....a cool summer action flick,,,,I wasn't expecting much, so I liked it......I haven't seen Harry Potter yet, but all the Potterphiles tell me it sucks...so that may be a blu-ray catch....tonight I am gonna go check out District 9....can't wait for that one.

AlpineWoods 8/23/2009 5:32:39 PM

I saw Inglorious Basterds on Friday, and I liked very much. Funny at times, a bit brutal, but still a good time at the movies. There's all this talk of Christoph Waltz getting an Oscar nod for supporting actor, but I also think Brad Pitt should get a nomination, too. I think it's one of his best roles in a while.

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