LOS ANGELES (AP) – Quentin Tarantino’s action flick “Kill Bill” is hitting theaters on the installment plan.
Instead of releasing what would be roughly a three-hour film, distributor Miramax is splitting “Kill Bill” into two parts of about 90 minutes each.
Part one will debut Oct. 10, the original release date scheduled for the film. A date for the second installment hasn’t been determined, though it could come two to six months later, Miramax co-founder Harvey Weinstein told The New York Times in Wednesday’s editions.
The move allows writer-director Tarantino to get his full story before audiences and avoid potential cuts to get it down to a more viewer-friendly length. Miramax has feuded with directors in the past on film edits, including Martin Scorsese on “Gangs of New York” and Billy Bob Thornton on “All the Pretty Horses.”
“Kill Bill,” Tarantino’s first film since 1997’s “Jackie Brown,” stars Uma Thurman as an assassin out for revenge against a hit man who tried to kill her.
Miramax wanted to be accommodating with Tarantino, whose 1994 crime romp, “Pulp Fiction,” a $100-million hit, helped establish the Disney-owned distributor as a major Hollywood player.
“We believe in him. He’s somebody we have a great track record with,” Miramax spokesman Paul Pflug said Wednesday.
“He’s one of the key factors why Miramax has become who it is.”
Cutting “Kill Bill” in two carries risks for Miramax, which will have to pay advertising and distribution costs on two movies instead of one. But if “Kill Bill” succeeds, Miramax stands to profit because viewers will be paying twice to see the film’s two parts.
AP-ES-07-16-03 1622EDT
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