Tarantino’s latest feature, the long-awaited ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ is finally here, and the film seems to have shattered a personal box office record for the director. It managed to collect $40 million, the strongest opening for a Tarantino film, since 2009’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’, at $38 million. After hitting $17 million on the first day, there was no looking back for the star studded drama.
This is terrific news, as it’s difficult for non-blockbuster fare to attract audiences nowadays, considering how the cinemas have been packed with Disney’s MCU and live action remakes. One might say, it’s Tarantino’s reputation, along with that of his stars, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, or the promotional campaign, that had the alt crowds buzzing too. Regardless, this is a positive step forward, an encouragement for other independent filmmakers.
During his last release, ‘The Hateful Eight’, the director had to face issues with theaters opting to drop his film for Disney’s ‘Star Wars : The Last Jedi’. So, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s record-breaking start, in parallel with ‘The Lion King’s run, will definitely appease Tarantino, considering the fact that he’d been working on the script for half a decade.
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The critics’ response has been fairly positive too, with the recreation of the 60’s and the movie’s gripping plot progression, being highlighted. David Edelstein says of the film, “It’s a ramshackle ’60s pastiche that acquires a life of its own, evoking not just an era and its pop culture but also celebrating the impulse to recreate and to rewrite the past in line with his fantasies. Say what you will about those fantasies — they’re innocent, they’re deviant, they’re sometimes weirdly both at once — but no one imparts his pipe dreams so seductively”.
The film will be released in other territories, including India, in the coming weeks, and Tarantino’s rising fan-base in Asia will make sure Once Upon a Time in Hollywood definitely leaves a remarkable imprint on 2019.
Source: CNN