Quentin Tarantino says the commercial failure of Grindhouse, his double-feature with fellow filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, hit pretty hard at the time.
“You work really hard on a movie and the opening weekend happens; people either go see it or they don’t. At the time, they didn’t," Tarantino said during an interview at the Burbank Film Festival," adding that the failure "shook his confidence" (H/T Deadline).
Following the success of Rodriguez's franchise and Tarantino's adaptation of Sin City, the filmmakers "thought people would follow us anywhere, but they didn’t follow us there." The film served as a cinematic event, combining Rodriguez's Planet Terror, starring Rose McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez, and Tarantino's Death Proof, starring Kurt Russell, with some fake movie trailers in between.
Grindhouse grossed a total of $25 million against a budget of $67 million, making it both Rodriguez's and Tarantino's lowest-grossing films of all time. Both also received mixed reviews from critics, with Planet Terror sitting at a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes and Grindhouse at a 67%.
Tarantino went on to say that he reached out to fellow filmmakers Tony Scott and Steven Spielberg for advice: "Did you make the movie you wanted to make? Yes. Are you happy with the movie you made? Yes. Well, there's a lot of people who can’t say that. Just think about how lucky you are to work in the business that you work in, and you’re able to make the movies you want to; sometimes the public gets them, sometimes they don't."
Spielberg's advice went even further, predicting the next few years of Tarantino's career: "Quentin, you’re been pretty lucky. But the next film that’s a hit, you’re going to enjoy that more than all your other hits put together, because you’ve been here now. You know what it’s like to have a flop. The next time you have a hit, it’s going to be easy."
The filmmaker would go on to have back-to-back hits with 2009's Inglourious Basterds, grossing $321 million worldwide against a budget of $70 million, with Django Unchained earning $426 million against a budget of $100 million. Both films received multiple Academy Award nominations. Rodriguez went on to make Machete, based on one of the fake trailers featured in Grindhouse, as well as a few other so-so releases, before hitting it big with 2019's Battle Angel Alita.
Grindhouse is streaming now on The Roku Channel. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2025 and beyond.
