Weekend Estimates: Basterds Scores Record Opening for Tarantino

August 23, 2009

Quentin Tarantino enjoyed the best opening of his career over the weekend, according to Weinstein Co.'s estimate released on Sunday morning. With $37.6 million, the movie tops his previous best, which is either Sin City (if you count his single scene as a legitimate directing credit) or Kill Bill: Volume 2, depending on your perspective. Either way, it's an impressive debut for a late Summer movie.

District 9 held on well in second place, dropping 49% from its opening weekend to score $18.9 million. Julie & Julia showed the best legs in the top 10, declining just 25% in its 3rd weekend.

The weekend's other two wide openers were disappointing. Shorts earned $6.6 million for Warner Bros., at an average of just over $2,000 a theater. Post Grad was below the Mendoza Line, with $2.8 million in just under 2,000 theaters.

The best performer on a per-theater basis was Freestyle's My One and Only, which picked up an impressive $60,000 in 4 theaters in New York and LA, and will be expanding over the next few weeks.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, Julie & Julia, Shorts, Post Grad, My One and Only