An Inglourious Basterd, that is. Quentin Tarantino’s wish-fulfillment Nazi fable opened in the top spot at the box office this weekend with $38 million, domestically. The foreign total of $65.1 million was led by No. 1 openings in such countries as France ($6.1 million), Britain ($5.8 million), Germany ($4.3 million) and Australia ($2.7 million), according to Reuters. The rest of the world gets to see in about three months. Tarantino should be happy about that.
Here’s the top five at the box office this weekend:
1. NEW! Inglourious Basterds (Weinstein) – $38 mil; 3,165 theaters; $12,024 PT
2. District 9 (Sony) – $18.2 mil; 3,050 theaters; $5,972 PT; $72.8 mil cume
3. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Paramount) – $12.2 mil; 3,953 theaters; $3,088 PT; $120.2 mil cume
4. The Time Traveler’s Wife (Warner Bros.) – $9.7 mil; 2,988 theaters; $3,261 PT; $37.1 mil cume
5. Julie & Julia (Sony) – $8.8 mil; 2,463 theaters; $3,573 PT; $59 mil cume
The other big opener, Shorts – from Tarantino’s buddy, Robert Rodriguez, who returns to his kiddie roots – came in sixth place with $6.4 million. Not a ton, but we are now officially out of the summer season and into the August-September doldrums.
And on that note, this weekend we’ve got a pair of horror flicks going up against one another. First, there’s the fourth installment of the Final Destination franchise. I’ve already mentioned that I kinda like the Final Destinations in a previous post, something about not wanting to EVER piss Death off. Then there’s Rob Zombie’s Halloween II, in which he veers completely off from the original sequel, blood, severed heads and all. Yummy. My bet is on the big guy in the mask, carrying the big knife. Here’s the unused trailer not readily available: