Quentin Tarantino's stylish, thrilling but ultra-violent popcorn martial arts drama Kill Bill Vol 1 is now setting a record of sorts in DVD and video sales.
That bodes well for the second movie in the series (now that Tarantino claims there will be a third one) that opens in North America on April 16.
According to trade publication Variety, fans spent $40 million buying the DVD of Volume 1 on Tuesday, its first day in stores. The film released last year and opened with a strong $21 million in North America over a three-day weekend. It took over 10 days to gross $40 million.
Trade sources expect the DVD and video sales and rentals to exceed the movie's $70 million theatrical gross in America and Canada. Others expect the sales and rentals to be over $120 million.
Abroad, the revenge drama did better: It grossed $110 million and DVD sales in countries like Japan and Italy, where the film was more popular, could be very high.
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Shot as one film for $65 million, the three-hour-plus movie was split into two parts at the insistence of distributor Miramax.
The movie stars Uma Thurman as The Bride who sets out to wreak vengeance on the assassins who shot her at her wedding and leaves her for dead. In the second chapter, the Bride, who has demolished some of her targets, is nearing her quest to kill assassin leader Bill and avenge her humiliation and losses.
Like the first film, the second has received mixed reviews. But given the enormous interest the just released DVD has aroused, especially among those who avoided the extra violent film in movie theatres, the sequel could do more business.
Some critics claim the film lacks the intensity of the first one, faulting it for less thrilling action sequences. Some have liked it precisely because it is less violent than its predecessor and makes time for the inner explorations of its central characters.
'The bifurcated pulp epic builds to a satisfying closer as the super heroine known as The Bride is avenged,' wrote J Hoberman in Village Voice. 'What's surprising is the atmosphere of sweet reason -- relatively speaking -- that distinguishes Kill Bill Vol 2 from its bloody precursor.'
Echoing Hoberman, Christy Lemire, the Associated Press critic, wrote: 'There just isn't the kind of cartoonish blood and gore that saturated the first film, which came out last fall. Vol 2 ends on a note that could almost be described as heartwarming, with Thurman's character finding happiness in a traditional way.
'Vol 2 is every bit as thrilling as the first,' she continued, 'but it also features more of the stylised, rhythmic dialogue that has become the writer-director's trademark through films like Pulp Fiction.'
Slamming the film, David DiCerto of the Catholic News Service called it 'violent and vapid'.
Miramax, producers of Kill Bill movies, distributes them not only in North America but also in many foreign territories. An arm of Disney, Miramax is known for its arty as well as popular hits like Pulp Fiction.
For Disney, which in recent weeks, has seen some prestigious films such as Hidalgo and The Alamo tumble at the box office (while earning awful reviews), the big opening of Kill Bill Vol 2 could be a big morale boost.
