‘Inglourious Basterds’ Enters Summer Battlefield
Inglourious Basterds will march into theaters nationwide on Aug. 21, 2009, distributor The Weinstein Company announced today. The World War II action picture marks the seventh feature from writer-director Quentin Tarantino and its cast includes Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Mike Myers.

Also scheduled for Aug. 21 are Warner Bros.' horror sequel Final Destination 4 3D and Paramount Pictures' comedy The Goods: The Don Ready Story, featuring Jeremy Piven, which moved to the date earlier this week after being previously set for April 24. G.I. Joe, another military action picture, opens earlier that month, though it only superficially compares to Inglourious Basterds.

Two other Paramount pictures shifted dates this week as well: Dance Flick and Case 39. The Wayans Bros.' Dance Flick jumped from Feb. 6, a date that had four other nationwide releases (including Pink Panther 2), to the freer Aug. 14 slot. The movie bluntly lampoons the hip hop dance movies that have proliferated in recent years, like You Got Served and the Step Up pictures. Horror thriller Case 39, featuring Renee Zellweger, was removed from April 10, a weekend when Hannah Montana: The Movie and Dragonball Evolution will debut among others, and its release is now "To Be Determined."

Tarantino's last movie, Grindhouse (a doubebill with Robert Rodriquez), was his first outright flop, but his previous movies have generally fared well at the box office. Pulp Fiction from 1994 looms as his biggest hit by far at $107.9 million (or the equivalent of over $180 million adjusted for ticket price inflation). Inglourious Basterds lead Brad Pitt is among the top stars, in part because of how well his movies draw overseas, and many of his popular movies have had historical settings or battle scenes, such as Troy, Legends of the Fall and the recently released The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. World War II remains an alluring subject matter, which Valkyrie has mined successfully at the holiday box office.

Related Charts

• August 2009 Release Schedule


Release Schedule Changes