Hindsight: June 1990
By Daron Aldridge
BoxOfficeProphets.com
In 1990, Arnold Schwarzenegger had come off the biggest hit of his career with the $111.9 million gross of 1988's Twins. You read that right. At this point, Schwarzenegger - Mr. Action Star - had his best box office from a comedy with Danny DeVito...and 1987's Predator is his distant number two film with $59 million. Arnold's stellar 1990 began on June 1st with Total Recall. Apparently, the studios thought that Arnold had enough muscle because Total Recall was the sole movie to open this weekend.
It appears that Arnold deliberately picked a film that was the action/sci-fi combo that had served him well in Predator and his most iconic role in Terminator. This was a wise choice and the audience flocked to Arnold's adventure to Mars (or did he really go?). Over the first weekend in June, Total Recall earned a robust $25.3 million ($43 million adjusted) from over 2,000 screens to become the best debut ever for an R-rated film at the time. Obviously, this was enough to gain the top spot and was a great first half of his 1990 tandem of Total Recall and Kindergarten Cop (released in December).
Sadly, this was the first weekend of June after all, which followed the four-day Memorial Day weekend, so a freefall for returning films was expected and those expectations were fulfilled. Up to this point in 1990, week-to-week declines landed in the 30% range on average but this weekend had six of the nine non-debuting films in the top ten clocking more than 50% drops.
With the unfortunate combination of the holiday and being a sequel, Back to the Future Part III sank a sizable 56% to $10.3 million ($17.5 million adjusted). Spielberg protégé and Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis must have let the budget-conscious lessons of the master sink in, because this film only carried a reported $40 million budget. After ten days, it had $38.1 million in the bank, so it was financially doing "okay".
The third spot goes to the Mel Gibson-Goldie Hawn action flick Bird on a Wire. It earned another $6.4 million ($10.9 million adjusted), which was off more than half of its previous weekend's take. Former number one repeat champ Pretty Woman had to settle for fourth place with $4.8 million ($8.2 million adjusted) with the second smallest decline in the top ten (just under 42%). Rounding out the top five is Cadillac Man, which swindled another $2.9 million ($4.9 million adjusted) out of audiences.
Before becoming the box office pariah of the late 2000s, Eddie Murphy was in-demand, reliable and most importantly, funny and raunchy. Summer 1990 brought a sequel to his 1982 feature film debut, 48 Hrs. In only eight years, Murphy had starred in nine films with only one bona fide flop, 1984's total misfire Best Defense. Even more impressive is that these other films included the gargantuan Beverly Hills Cop ($234.8 million in 1984), its sequel and his widely acclaimed stand-up film Raw that earned more than $50 million and probably only cost $300 to make. He was virtually unstoppable and Paramount was given the second weekend of June all to itself to start Another 48 Hrs.
Murphy's ex-con Reggie Hammond reteamed with Nick Nolte's Jack Cates and moviegoers came along for the ride. Another 48 Hrs. brought $19.8 million ($33.7 million adjusted) home to Paramount. This debut was in line with Murphy's two previous films, Harlem Nights ($16.1 million debut) and Coming to America ($21.4 million debut).
For the rest of the top five, there was nowhere to go but down and down one spot they all shifted. Schwarzenegger's Martian epic performed like star-driven, front-loaded films often do and dropped 41% to second place with $15.1 million ($25.7 million adjusted). Maybe the word of mouth about the bare-chested, three-boobed mutant hadn't quite reached its target demographic yet. Back to the Future Part III, Michael J. Fox's last turn as Marty McFly, stopped at third place with $7.7 million ($13.1 million adjusted) and Bird on a Wire took fourth with $4.8 million ($8.2 million adjusted).
Despite still logging small declines, the summer was in full swing with new films opening on top every week. That means this was the last weekend that Pretty Woman would be in the top five with $4.5 million ($7.7 million adjusted). You shouldn't shed any tears for Vivian, though, because the film spent 80 days in the top five and of course, had already taken home more than $133 million at this point. This type of longevity was as much a rarity in 1990, as it is today.
Next on deck was a product of the Disney hype machine, Dick Tracy, a PG-rated film adaptation of the comic strip hero. With an apparent sentimentality toward the source material, Warren Beatty acquired the film rights to the comic strip character and ended up starring and directing the film. This seemed a bit of an odd follow-up directorial effort to his Oscar-winning Reds but Beatty attempted to stay true to the comic and he convincingly captured its two-dimensional look and bright colored settings.
As I recall, my 15-year-old self saw ad after ad after ad for the film. Dick Tracy was the clear beneficiary of Disney's marketing push in summer 1990. While it had a reported budget of $47 million, the advertising costs at least doubled that figure. Predictably, Dick Tracy won the weekend with $22.5 million ($38.3 million adjusted). Interestingly, the Variety box office chart for this weekend included a footnote that supported the omnipresent advertising. As Variety states, this $22.5 million amount includes "an estimated $1.25 to $1.5 million in T-shirt sales." This brilliant marketing scheme equated to selling special T-shirts that served as the ticket to midnight showings. I say they were brilliant because not only did they get the revenue from shirt sales, but they created between 250,000 to 300,000 walking billboards out of patrons (at $5 a pop per shirt).
Incidentally, I encourage you to go back and re-watch Al Pacino's scenes here as Big Boy Caprice and you will be witnessing the first stage of his devolution into a caricature. It was 100% appropriate here but should be turned off for other roles. Folks, it didn't start with Scent of a Woman.
So far, five weeks and five new tentpole films equated to five different number one finishes. There was nary a repeat box office winner since Pretty Woman at the beginning of May. Regardless, the top five was robust with two other titles pulling in over $10 million and the other debut film ending up just shy of an eight-figure opening. Second place went to Murphy's week-old sequel, Another 48 Hrs., with a decline of 45% to $10.7 million ($18.2 million adjusted) and Total Recall banked another $10.2 million ($17.4 million adjusted) for the number three spot.
The fourth slot finds a sequel that Warner Bros. waited a bit too long to release to actually capitalize on its predecessor. Gremlins 2: The New Batch could easily be filed under "Did anyone want this other than Zach Galligan's landlord?" That might be too much of an assumption since the first film made mint for Warner Bros., or $148 million against an $11 million budget in 1984. So, six years later, a sequel is finally hatched with a $50 million budget. With a debut of $9.7 million ($16.5 million adjusted) and a fourth place start, the reality must've been sinking in that this was not the brightest moment for whichever executive signed off on that budget.
Back to the Future Part III parked in the top five for the last time this weekend with a gross of $4.9 million ($8.3 million adjusted). Ultimately, this was a fair performance that befell a film that deserved more attention. I stand by the blame I assign to Part II of the series.
If you ever thought that summer sequel-itis is a recent phenomenon, summer 1990 can dispel that notion. June 22nd saw the fourth sequel released in five weeks. Whether it was sequel fatigue or not, Robocop 2 hit theaters and failed to score a top spot finish. Dick Tracy retained its title with $15.5 million ($26.4 million adjusted) off just 31% from its opening.
The aforementioned Robocop 2 had to settle for second place with $14.1 million ($24 million adjusted). The Robocop franchise had a quicker turnaround time than Gremlins and it built on the first film's debut to boot. Surprisingly, the first Robocop banked a modest $53.4 million in 1987 but it only cost the now-defunct Orion $13 million to make, so a sequel made sense, dollar-wise. Paul Verhoeven was out as director but sequel-champion director Irvin Kirshner was in for Robocop's second episode. Yes, the man behind arguably the best of the Star Wars films – The Empire Strikes Back – directed Robocop 2. But lightning didn't exactly strike twice. It was a respectable effort that stayed true to the first film and came close to the first film's performance with round two earning $45.3 million ($77.1 million adjusted) total for an estimated budget of $14 million.
For third through fifth place: Total Recall dipped a minor 19% to $8.2 million ($14.1 million adjusted), Another 48 Hrs. earned another $7.6 million ($12.9 million adjusted), and Warner Bros. should be pleased that Gremlins 2 only slipped 27% to $7.1 million ($12.1 million adjusted). Two weeks was all Gizmo and friends could muster in the top five and it would fall short of its $50 million budget by finishing its domestic run with $41.5 million ($70.6 million adjusted). That probably explains why we haven't been subjected to Gremlins 3: Mogwai's Revenge.
(Oh yeah, Betsy's Wedding with Alan Alda and Molly Ringwald opened alongside Robocop 2 but started out in sixth place with $4.7 million ($8 million adjusted) on its way to $19.7 million ($33.5 million adjusted). This parenthetical aside is about all this film can muster in a busy summer season. Please accept my apologies if you are an offended fan of M*A*S*H's Hawkeye and/or John Hughes' muse.)
While not technically a sequel, the last week in June introduced a retread in the form of the "Top Gun in a race car" film, Days of Thunder. At the helm was Tony Scott and behind the pretend steering wheel was Tom Cruise, still fulfilling his need for speed, albeit on the blacktop and not the blue skies. You may not know this but Days of Thunder is based upon a story by Tom Cruise...go ahead and get the giggles out now, I'll wait. The story apparently comes from the 1980s Mad Libs screenplay: a hot young race car driver (sexy profession) learns the value of teamwork (personal value) from the seasoned mentor.
As expected of Mr. Cruise at this point in this career, especially coming off the acclaimed Born on the Fourth of July, Days of Thunder opened with $15.5 million ($26.4 million adjusted) for the weekend but that figure is somewhat misleading. Days of Thunder throws a wrench in the works because it actually opened on the Wednesday prior. This Wednesday and Thursday accounted for another $6 million, so Days of Thunder had banked $21.5 million ($36.6 million adjusted) in its first five days.
As everyone knows it, this is the film that brought Tom and Nicole Kidman together. Do you remember when Joey from Friends said that if there is no chemistry between co-stars, then they are actually sleeping together. Well, if that assertion is accurate, then these two kids must've been head over heels in love.
With that young buck Tom Cruise taking the top spot, Dick Tracy and its cast of veterans are relegated to second place with $10.1 million ($17.2 million adjusted). Alas, Officer Murphy crumbled in his second weekend, as Robocop 2 dropped 54% to $6.4 million ($10.9 million adjusted). The fourth and fifth spots go to two films that ushered in the month of June: Total Recall with $6 million ($10.2 million adjusted) and Another 48 Hrs. with $5.4 million ($9.2 million adjusted).
So, the suits and powers that be in Hollywood had some pretty good reasons to be happy during for the first full month of summer. Stars showed they are stars because they bring people to the theaters, unlike today with underperformances from big names and over-performances from no-names. Will this continue to be a summer of "one-and-done" for the top spot or will a movie arrive and take up permanent residence? Either way, with the Independence Day holiday falling on a Wednesday in 1990, July's box office landscape might be a bit tricky but it'll be worth looking at in Hindsight.