The Weinstein Co. has announced that the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriquez double feature Grindhouse will be released in the U.K. as two separate movies.
The move follows a similar plan already established for other non-US territories that the film will be shown at. Death Proof from Tarantino will premiere on September 21, with a premiere for Rodriquez’s Planet Terror set to follow sometime after, though no date has yet been set for it.
Because of a weak U.S. performance ($11.60M for its opening weekend, only $23.10M total gross thus far), the Weinstein Co. hopes reducing one of the negatives against it (the long 3hr+ running time) will spur box office receipts:
“Based on U.S. audience’s positive reactions to Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Death Proof’ and Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Planet Terror,’ combined with their resistance to the three-hour running time, we’ve revised our U.K. release plans to allow audiences the chance to see the films separately, like they will be shown in all international territories,” Weinstein said.
