Disney’s The Lion King may have topped the box office for the second time this past weekend, but Quentin Tarantino certainly has nothing to be upset about as his 9th film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood scored $40,350,000 in its domestic opening weekend, a new career-best for the filmmaker. His previous best was $38 million for 2009’s Inglourious Basterds.
For the sake of comparison, The Hateful Eight made $54 million in its entire domestic run back in 2015. Needless to say, Tarantino’s latest is going to smash that number.
With an 85% “Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes, most agree that the 1969-set Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is yet again Quentin Tarantino in top form, a soulful and mournful elegy for a different time in both the history of Hollywood and the world at large. It’s perhaps Tarantino’s most upbeat movie to date, as well as his most heartfelt and ultimately, bittersweet.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood had a lot working in its favor, with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio leading a story set against the backdrop of a compelling real-life hook – to nobody’s surprise, Tarantino rewrites the Manson Family murders in his own unique way – and the promise that it’s Tarantino’s second-to-last film surely added to the “event” feel that helped it out-perform early projections. It’s also worth noting that Once Upon a Time was released in nearly 4,000 theaters by Sony, more screens than a Tarantino film had ever been released on.
With a reported $90 million production budget, it’s also worth noting, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood still has a ways to go on the road to being profitable. But it’s off to a great start.
What’s next for Tarantino? His final film could either be a rated “R” take on Star Trek or maybe the long-promised Kill Bill Volume 3. Either way, he’s no doubt going out on a high note.
