Ugh!
I saw Kill Bill Vol 1 shortly after it was released last year. It was awesome. I was foaming at the mouth for Vol 2 as soon as the credits started rolling. It was okay though, because Vol 2 was coming out in February. I could deal with that.
A few weeks ago I checked up on it. It was still coming out in February (I’ve been foaming at the mouth for some months now), and my friend Tony and I had been speculating about DVD release strategy. Would it be best for them to knock out a quick and dirty barebones DVD to have ready for the release of Vol 2? Would they then release Vol 2 on DVD six months after it hit the theatre? How long would they wait for the box set with all of the commentary and special features that Tarantino junkies require? We had no solid theories.
Last week, I read somewhere that Vol 1 was going to be out on DVD in April. That was a bit dissapointing, since I had wanted to rewatch Vol 1 and then see Vol 2. But no matter, Vol 2 was going to hit in Feb, and I would just deal with it.
Except, now it’s not.
According to Yahoo! Movies, it is now slated to be released on April 16, which just happens to be right around when the DVD comes out. The absurd part about it is that the movie has been in the can for quite some time before Vol 1 even hit the theatres.
I’m sure that this has something to do with the okay but not spectacular numbers that Vol 1 posted at the theatres. It has managed to pull in about $70 million since it was released, which is not a bomb, but not very good either. It quickly reached cult status among a subset of moviegoers, but it failed to hit critical mass and go mainstream like Pulp Fiction did.
I can only assume that Miramax decided to push back the opening of Vol 2 in hopes that significant buzz would be generated by the release of Vol 1 on DVD. To whomever decided to do this: Eff you! You’ve managed to piss off the people that saw Vol 1 and told all of their friends to see it. We’re not happy. We’re still going to fork over $9 to see the movie, but we’re going to come in angry. We’re probably going to buy Vol 1 on DVD the week it comes out, Vol 2 as soon as it comes out, and eventually the boxed set, because we’ve got to have those deleted scenes, that commentary, those interviews, and that extra content.
But Miramax, you have pissed us off.