Rob Zombie’s fight with the studio lasted beyond the first movie. He said he returned for Halloween II only because the sequel would release him from a third film in his contract.
Rob Zombie kept cutting his 2007 Halloween with longtime editor Glenn Garland after Bob Weinstein demanded a replacement. The second, high-profile editor was paid what Zombie called a “ridiculous rate,” while Garland continued doing the actual work and the new hire spent his time in another room making coffee.
Zombie told the story during the May 16, 2023 episode of the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast.
According to Zombie, Weinstein watched the finished film and called to say, “I hate every single fucking frame of this movie.” The director said that kind of conflict was constant during production, so he stayed ahead of the schedule and shot scenes out of order. By the time notes arrived about one day’s footage, he’d already completed the material that followed it.
On August 31, 2007, the morning Halloween opened, Weinstein called around 10 a.m. and warned, “It doesn’t look good. This thing’s a fucking disaster.” A few hours later, he called again with a different update: “We’re adding more screenings. This thing’s going through the roof.”
The movie set a Labor Day weekend opening record. Zombie said Harvey Weinstein then told Bob that it could’ve earned twice as much if Bob had listened to him, prompting the brothers to argue even after the record-breaking result.
The reversal continued on the set of Halloween II. Zombie recalled Bob showing him the trailer for the first film and declaring, “Every frame of this movie is fucking genius.” Halloween ultimately grossed about $80 million worldwide.
