Grindhouse 2

Oh Don Piano. Again. Ain't no way.

Agreed, but nonetheless a mathematical impossibility.

I don't think it's impossible at all. I don't see it getting any kind of budget and it won't go to theaters, but why would any studio say no to name directors making a DTV film if they could do it on the cheap?

Well, DTV isn't really what I was calling a mathematical impossibility. Edited to clarify.

Grindhouse's biggest problem was the odd marketing (which made it seem "cheesier" than it really was) and the bad timing. April was a bad idea, especially Easter weekend. Easter is a big movie weekend, but the kicker is that most of that crowd is families going out together. And most families don't go out and see a movie like Grindhouse. It also leaves less of an opportunity for people to break away from family gatherings to go see a movie that, once you add in driving time, is pretty much a 4 hour event. Because of this, it obviously did less than stellar on its opening weekend. The good news was that word-of-mouth was excellent on the film, at least around here. The bad news is that the following weekend saw five or six new wide releases, which dilluded the box office take so much that most films pretty much bombed with the exception of one or two. Grindhouse should have been a summer film. It should have been released in late July or sometime in August when there was likely to be a whole lot less competition than the overstuffed month of April. That's why, even though the budget was only $65 million, it tanked. Plus, with a summer release, most college students and regular school students would have been more available to see the film, especially when it came to repeat viewings. As it stands, most college age people don't have the time to go and see a 3+ hour movie more than one while school is in session........especially near the end of the semester.

So is Grindhouse II a possibility? I think so. Harvey & Bob Weinstein loved the first one and seemed really hurt when it did not do well at all. And more importantly, they didn't blame the filmmakers for its failure at the box office. Instead, they pretty much cited the same reasons that I did for it not even recouping its budget.

What Eli Roth seems to be proposing to the Weinsteins is a low budget follow-up made up of full-length versions of he and Edgar Wright's trailers, and I think that is an excellent idea. With both films not having any huge action setpieces like Planet Terror and Death Proof did, there's no reason that a sequel made up of Thanksgiving and Don't couldn't be made at half the budget of the original or less. If you were to make the film for $10-$20 million ($5 to $10 million per film), it should be fairly easy to recoup the budget in theaters and probably at least a bit of profit...........and likely make a killing once it hit DVD.

Dimension fumbled the ball on Grindhouse and it is obvious that they realize that. The question is will they give up on the property's franchise potential or will they push forward and learn from their previous mistake. Roth and Wright are fully willing to expand their "fake" trailers into one theatrical follow-up and Robert Rodriguez apparently already working his off days of prep for Sin City II on finishing up a feature length version of Machete for DTV release (of which he already has 40 minutes of footage from when he shot the trailer).....so there's absolutely no reason to not keep this train rolling as long as the budgets don't get too high. And if they do go for it, they should just go ahead and sanction Rob Zombie to finish Werewolf Women of the S.S. for a third theatrical installment or at least a DTV movie. According to Rodriguez, Zombie already shot about 30 minutes worth anyway, so they might as well bring him back to film another hour or so to finish it off. Bring on Grindhouse II and beyond, I say!

If it was a true low-budget movie, with him and his friends as the actors, I would dig that, not to mention it'd be an easy sell to investors. That I could get behind.

Who am I kidding, I'll get behind anything Edgar Wright does, and Eli is getting there.

But do they say Quentin Tarantino Presents on the cover?

And I think Eli Roth should make Thanksgiving 2 instead (that would be funny). We've already seen the best scenes of part 1.

Damn straight.

I still wanna see Hobo with a Shotgun. You wanna make GH 2 and beyond really cheap? Turn it into a contest like Project Greenlight and award a paltry amount to the winner/s. You'll be delivered finished flicks by a deadline and will merely have to choose the best ones to showcase (much like the trailer contest).

Agreed and it sounds like that is exactly what this crew is planning, especially with Eli and all of his same age 30-something buddies playing all the high school roles. Sounds like a blast!

Normally I would say they didn't have a clue, but with the Weinsteins being very publicly vocal about their disappointment about it not doing well and even blaming themselves in their interviews as opposed to audiences and the filmmakers, it seems that they are actually sincere for once. Usually when a Weinstein flick topples like that they don't even bother to comment, let alone contemplate the situation publicly. They usually just clam up and ignore it.

I think the odds of a sequel are slim-to-none. I've seen much higher estimates of the budget-- including marketing efforts it was probably well over $100M. it's nowhere near making that back. If they are lucky, they'll break even on DVD. Plus, word of mouth on this was not very good, at least for "Death Proof" which I know I'm not alone in thinking was the most boring piece of shit letdown of all time

This is a very good idea. I also heartily endorse a "Machete" movie.

Ummmmm... What planet are we living on that we're actually taking talk about a sequel to Grindhouse seriously? Ishtar 2, on the other hand, that's gonna happen dammit!

Thanksgiving and Don't would make an excellent double feature. One a grimy 80's style slasher, and the other, and early 70's British 'Hammeresque" flick. That really works, and I'd definitely go see them. The low budget that Roth wants would obviously be the better route to go this time around.

"Wet Hot American Summer"?

Also, Eli Roth has the Tarantino disease where he's always talking about movies he wants to make.

Other than circling remakes of Deathdream and The Bad Seed for awhile, the only project I have ever read Eli talking about that hasn't happened yet is his teen comedy Scavenger Hunt, which seems to be abandoned at this point. Cabin Fever II doesn't really count, as I don't think he ever had much intention of being involved outside of offering his writing and producing abilities, which were turned down. The only other films he's mentioned are Hostel, Hostel II, and Cell..........all of which have already happened or will soon. The only "potential" project that isn't a definite at all right now for him is Thanksgiving.

Tarantino on the other hand has been linked to the following projects that have yet to happen:

- A loose remake of Inglorious Bastards
- A remake of the kung fu film Come Drink With Me (just announced a week or so ago)
- A remake of Lucio Fulci's Seven Notes In Black (aka The Psychic)
- The now abandoned Vega Brothers
- The equally unlikely Kill Bill: Volume Three
- An untitled blaxploitation-styled crime film
- An untitled kung fu epic filmed in Mandarin (may or may not be the same project as Come Drink With Me)
- An abandoned untitled slasher film about the ghost of a plantation slave
- An abandoned untitled revenge thriller about a Texas Ranger (part of which was cannibalized for the Kill Bill films)
- An adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Freaky Deaky
- An adaptation of Leonard's western Forty Lashes Less One, naturally filmed in full spaghetti western style

He was also going to adapt Leonard's Killshot at one point, but thankfully he has at least gotten that one off the ground as a producer and should hit theaters later this year.

Roth is a whole lot more reliable when it comes to his filmmaking promises than Tarantino is and at least he is making an effort to continue working. Quentin seems content to just sit around forever toiling over the same script (Inglorious Bastards) for a decade, only to occasionally emerge from his home to film something. I'm convinced that his involvement in Grindhouse never would have happened if Rodriguez hadn't been there to push him along and keep him on his toes to get it done. If it weren't for Robert, it's very likely that we be sitting here today wondering when the world Quentin is going to follow-up Kill Bill with something. I just hope that now Quentin has been working on a semi-regular basis the past few years (Kill Bill, CSI, Death Proof) that he keeps going and starts up another film sometime soon, as opposed to disappearing from the cinematic world for another hiatus like after Jackie Brown. Tarantino seems to lack motivation these days. Back in the early '90's he seemed poised to have a project out every other year and acted like he wanted to constantly be making new films to further his career.

Now after a lot of success, all he seems to want to do is sit in his home and occasionally make another movie when he gets really bored. If I had his fame and clout, I'd be working all the time. Granted one should enjoy their success and achievement, there isn't anything wrong with that. If he wants to spend short periods of time doing nothing but sitting at home and watching movies, then more power to him. But he should have enough sense not to squander his career on laziness. Many of the great directors have had long periods in between films, but that's usually because they had trouble finding the right project and/or securing financing for it............not because they were sitting at home having their own personal DVD marathons on a daily basis.

I find it funny in interviews when Roth still credits Quentin for kicking him in the butt to get off his ass and start making more movies. Roth spent the years in between Cabin Fever and Hostel circling studio projects (the two aforementioned remakes, Scavenger Hunt, and producing the aborted Baywatch movie), none of which really panned out. Roth credits Quentin for advising him on not waisting his time on projects of that sort and instead getting out their and making the films he wants to on his own terms instead of sitting around and doing nothing for years. It's a shame that Quentin can't seem to take his own advice.

I have loved every movie that Tarantino has given us so far and I respect him as a filmmaker, but the man certainly is more than a little lazy. Roth may not be a great filmmaker (at least not yet), but I'd give him a little credit when it comes to making promises and keeping them........unlike the fickle Tarantino. If Eli is hellbent on getting Thanksgiving made, I am sure that it will happen at some point or another. Whether or not it ends up being part of a Grindhouse sequel or is made on its own is the real question.

LOL. Listen, I'm 35 years old and I have seen as many shitty "grindhouse" movies as anyone on this board. But I'm not so GD hip that I'll say something is great because it is a successful homage to boring shit. Tarantino needs to take his head out of his ass. Kurt was amusing but not enough to carry Death Proof, and the box office returns prove it.

You left out the airplane disaster movie he wanted to do with Pam Grier and John Travolta. But yeah, Tarantino probably spends most of his time watching bad TV and getting high, and Roth seems a bit more active. Not that much more, though- haven't you heard his potentially career-killing pitch for "Cabin Fever 2"?

Wasn't that the one that was some acid-trip musical road movie based around Deputy "The Party Guy" Winston? That sounded hilarious! I was always under the impression that he didn't want to direct it though, just write and produce it. Of course LionsGate turned it down and, while I'm sure the concept would have been a blast, I can easily see why. He didn't seem to hurt though and I am pretty sure I read in a recent interview that he is looking forward to seeing the version of Cabin Fever II that is actually happening.