Despite having a large core fanbase, Quentin Tarantino’s history at the box office has been surprisingly up and down. Following the incredible $100 million-plus success of Pulp Fiction back in 1994 Jackie Brown managed to only pull in $39 million at the domestic box office; and after Grindhouse flopped (making only $25 million) in 2007 the director came back with Inglourious Basterds, which ended up being the biggest hit of his career. That is, until Django Unchained came around.
Box office returns have come in and since being released on Christmas Day Tarantino’s latest revenge thriller has managed to become the highest grossing movie among the director’s titles domestically. Basterds previously held the title, making $120 million when it was released a few years ago, but now Django Unchained has gone over $130 million and stolen the top spot. It should be noted, however, that when adjusting for inflation Pulp Fictioncontinues to reign supreme among the catalog with a $197 million take.
What makes Django‘s success significant is the amount of controversy the film managed to stir up both before and after its release. Some in the Hollywood community, such as director Spike Lee and comedian Katt Williams, criticized the movie for both its repeated use of the “N-word” and depiction of slavery in America (as seen through the eyes of a white filmmaker). Despite the outrage, The Weinstein Company reported that the movie was doing fine with black audiences.
As a huge Tarantino fan this news is thrilling, not just because it’s great to see talented people get recognition, but because of what it could mean for the director’s future films. While he’s obviously never had a problem getting his craziest ideas made (it wasn’t successful, but he did actually get to makeGrindhouse), Tarantino having two $100 million hits in a row means that he could potentially write his own check for whatever he has cooking next. I personally can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeves.
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