Quentin Tarantino‘s The Hateful Eight just flopped in the box office.
Quentin Tarantino is probably not having a good week right now as The Hateful Eight is Quentin Tarantino’s worst Box Office movie in 20 years.
According to Box Office Mojo, the Tarantino style western has reported The Hateful Eight’s box office numbers and they don’t look good. Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie fell short of expectations last weekend and now, in its second weekend in wide release, earnings have dropped nearly 60%. To make matters even worse, the movie expanded to an additional 464 theaters. With an estimated $6.3 million this weekend the movie is up to $41.4 million domestically and is looking to cap at $50 million.
If The Hateful Eight does cap at $50 million, it will be Tarantino’s worst box office performance since 1997 and the release of Jackie Brown.
The Hateful Eight reportedly cost $50 million to produce and another $35 million to promote. According to reports, in order for the movie to break even, The Hateful Eight will have to earn at least $85 million. And judging from the results of the Golden Globes, I highly suspect that this will not happen.
Critics loved the movie. The Hateful Eight received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 74%, based on 191 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, “The Hateful Eight offers another well-aimed round from Quentin Tarantino’s signature blend of action, humor, and over-the-top violence – all while demonstrating an even stronger grip on his filmmaking craft.”
In fact, The A.V. Club’s Ignatiy Vishnevetsky praised the film, remarking that “with a script that could easily be a stage play, The Hateful Eight is about as close as this pastiche artist is likely to get to the classical tradition….[It] is an exercise in the art of the protracted scene, which has been part of his personal signature sinceReservoir Dogs.”
But this begs the question: why did The Hateful Eight do so poorly in the box office? Was the police union strike? Was it the fact that he says the N-word a lot in his movies? Or was it because the months before production ever started?
We will never know but, his last movie, “Django Unchained” sat at $106 million and “Inglorious Basterds” sat at $73 million. Currently, “The Hateful Eight” sits at a calamitous $41 million.
