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To say that the Weinstein Company has a lot riding on the success of Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" would be an understatement.  TWC is broke and they need a hit - badly.  In fact, their money troubles are so bad that Harvey and Co were said to be "hoarding whatever cash they have left to be able to release 'Inglourious Basterds'".  So, what kind of ingenious yet thrifty marketing scheme has The Weinstein Company come up with?  Besides printing a ton of posters, I mean.  How about a tie-in with the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Saturday pay-per-view event?  Find our more after the jump...

In an unusual (yet strangely apt) promotional move, TWC will market Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" at the UFC 100 this Saturday.  According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Basterds" will get an animated billboard at the event, placement inside the octagon and a chance for the 11,000 attendees to watch a trailer for the WWII film.  Reaching 11,000 mixed martial arts fans would not really be worth the money (I can watch that trailer for free right now) but the "UFC 100" event will also be carried live on pay-per-view from Las Vegas.  A captive audience hopped up on violence, adrenaline and beer?  Does an audience come that is more perfectly suited for a Weinstein production?

I'm sure that no one involved with the event will mention that "Inglourious Basterds" is not the "Brad Pitt Nazi-Bashing Whoop-Ass Extravaganza" we've all been led to believe.  Nope, the fact that the film also contains two non-Pitt plotlines and lots of foreign dialogue is going to continue to be underplayed as TWC tries desperately to convince the young male demographic to get down with "Basterds".

For their part, the UFC is said to be very pleased with their new promo partners and according to THR they are "touting the sponsorship as the first Weinstein promotion at one of their events."  I guess they're forgetting about that huge banner for "The Reader" that classed up the Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale last December...

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