Basterd-ization of Hollywood: A $38 Million Weekend

The big box-office news is that Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Bastards” grossed $38 million domestically over its first weekend.

The predictions had been for $30 million, and those were hopeful.

Over at another industry website, the writer jumped the gun Friday night, put in low numbers, then had to keep correcting herself.

But the movie did very, very well; $14.35 million on Friday night, $12.9 million last night, and an expected $10.3 million today. The result is $37.6 million and change. Rounded up after all the counting, it will come to $38 mil.

Why is it an exceptional story? Because the New York Times last week tried to make “Basterds” a bellwether for the end of the Weinstein Company. “Clerks” director Kevin Smith, who owes his career to Harvey Weinstein, made some unfortunate comments. A pile-on was starting to happen.

But the Weinsteins have been in business for 30 years. They’ve had five tough years recently. That’s all changing now. After “Basterds” comes “Halloween II,’ which should do well. The big fish for the fall is Rob Marshall’s “Nine.” It’s a certain Oscar nominee. And from the looks of advance footage, “Nine” is going to be spectacular.The all-star cast of Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz and Sophia Loren should put it right over the top.

Big Hollywood, aka the studios, don’t like the New York film business. They don’t like indies, and they’re crossing their collective fingers for failure reports. It’s not going to happen. TWC lives to see another day. And as they say these days, it’s all good.