Tarantino wrote the script in 1998, but struggled with the ending and chose instead to direct the two-part film "Kill Bill". After directing "Death Proof" in 2007, Tarantino returned to work on "Inglourious Basterds". A co-production of the United States and Germany, the film began principal photography in October 2008 and was filmed in Germany and France with a $70 million production budget. It premiered on May 20, 2009, at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, and received a wide release in theaters in the United States and Europe in August 2009 by The Weinstein Company and Universal Pictures.