As mentioned last Monday, Inglourious Basterds took in $38.1 million at the U.S. box office. The WWII pic held strong for a second weekend for a 10 day domestic kill of $73.8 million and worldwide total of $115.8 million. These results are certainly much more than expected and makes Basterds one of the true underdog victories in a summer otherwise full of overwrought blockbusters. In fact, one of the more prominent industry blogs, Risky Business Blog, notes that Inglourious Basterds just may become Tarantino’s biggest grosser but reminds us to “Give [Brad] Pitt A Chance” while simultaneously observing Quentin Tarantino and Harvey Weinstein taking their respective victory laps:

Both gents deserve to bask in the afterglow, but whither Brad Pitt amid all this Basterds back-patting? . . . . Strong turnout by women may have put Basterds over the top — but Pitt’s appeal with that demographic isn’t even noted. As for men, maybe they responded to Pitt hamming it up as the loony “NAAH-tzee killer” Aldo Raine.

Meanwhile, a dark horse (or rather, a Bear Jew) has proven a devoted fanbase of his own:

In fact, merely because the Bear Jew is so “badass,” many of Eli Roth’s fans have been returning for a second (or third or fourth) helping of Basterds. Chicks dig him too, as evidenced by the IMDb message boards and an apt description as a “walking orgasm” by FuckYeahJewishMen. There’s even an entire Tumbler site, Bear Jew Facts (from whence this post’s captioned photos came) devoted to his Basterds character, who appears to appeal to men and women alike: “Most men are okay with their wives fantasizing about the Bear Jew during sex, because they are doing the same thing.” And who could blame them, really?

Of course, Pitt undoubtedly did draw in some of the 42% female audience during that first weekend, but I’d be willing to wager that several million box office dollars were drawn in solely by the Bear Jew’s “guns.” You can see a screenshot with dozens of Twitter entries to that effect right here, and dude’s also been fielding countless marriage proposals on his MySpace page:

Methinks a lot of Roth’s appeal must have to do not only with looks but also with his air of accessibility, that is, his one-on-one interaction with the fans and their consequential willingness to spread the Basterds buzz for him. Positive word of mouth has made such a difference with this movie, as did visibility of its actors. Speaking of a lack of visibility, Celebitchy notes that, in the weeks leading up to Basterds‘ release Pitt was like a vapour trail:

Brad Pitt totally quit America a week ago. And when I say “totally” I mean “he and Angelina went on vacation to their chateau for an unknown period of time.” This is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen an actor do – considering he left town one week before his big new film premiered stateside. Brad’s PR for the film hasn’t even been that hardcore for Inglourious Basterds. A few interviews here and there, no major magazines, two television shows. That’s not really any big media campaign.

At that point, Roth had already singlehandedly covered the Comic-Con and Fantasia fest Basterds screenings with Q/A sessions, and, In the two weeks leading up to the film’s release, Roth did approximately 8401 television, radio, and internet interviews, along with an autograph signing at NYC’s Forbidden Planet. He did all of that as well as the massive publicity run through L.A., Toronto, Austin, NYC, and Nashville premieres. Of these five cities, Pitt was only present for the L.A. premiere.

In conclusion, I’m not attempting to entirely discount the allure of one Brad Pitt, despite the fact that his Lt. Aldo Raine mustache actually took away from his appeal. My point is that Pitt wasn’t the only hot guy in the movie (hell, he doesn’t even make the top five list), and, while Pitt is generally a bankable actor, he wasn’t the only female (and gay male) attractor here. If there’s one Basterd who pulled in more unlikely ticket sales than any other, it’s gotta be Eli Roth.

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