After months of fielding questions about the future of their company and Quentin Tarantino’s controversial “Inglourious Basterds,” Bob and Harvey Weinstein got the last laugh.
That's because "Basterds" surpassed all projections to take in $37.6 million this weekend, according to Hollywood.com and studio estimates.
The Nazi drama-comedy was tracking around $25 million on Thursday -- the same total earned by Tarantino’s previous best debut ‘Kill Bill Vol. 2” -- but a $14.5 million Friday paved the way for the writer-director’s largest opening by far.
"This is a film that wowed audiences the way that only Quentin Tarantino can,” the Weinsteins said in a statement. “We look forward to a great run in the U.S. and continued success around the world."
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"We always knew that the film would be much better received critically than some people seemed to think it would be out of Cannes," said Tom Ortenberg, the Weinstein's head of theatrical marketing. "It reminded me a lot of 'Crash,' which played the Toronto Film Festival to what appeared to mixed reviews, and when it was released a few months later it– was one of the best reviewed movie of year."
'Basterds' got strong support on Rottentomatoes.com, and had an A- on Cinemascore exit polling, Ortenberg said.
For the Weinsteins, the numbers shoud bring a huge sigh of relief. Almost since the launch of the Weinstein Company, Harvey and Bob have been forced to deal with questions about its viability.
