Hindsight: July 1990
By Daron Aldridge
July 20, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
By the time the Independence Day holiday rolled around in 1990, the seasons were apparently having an identity crisis. The spring, specifically March, had performed like summer with three huge films released in a single month. A summer release hadn't quite approached the heights of The Hunt for Red October, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Pretty Woman. July could be the month to turn it all around.
Before jumping into July, I must correct an oversight in the Hindsight for June 1990. The last week in June saw the debut of the cinematic punching bag that helped coin a phrase for any movie that is reviled despite the presence of a big name star. That phrase is "Ghost Dad Bad." As in, "How was Travolta's new movie Broken Arrow?" "It wasn't Ghost Dad Bad but it was still pretty awful." I was remiss to not acknowledge that at the height of his sitcom popularity and with Oscar winner Sidney Poitier directing, Bill Cosby was unable to open a movie higher than sixth place to just $4.8 million ($8.2 million adjusted to 2008 dollars) and a final tally of $23 million. On the plus side, in just four days, Ghost Dad outgrossed Cosby's previous opus Leonard Part 6.
Back on track, here is July 1990 in Hindsight.
The Independence Day holiday fell on a Wednesday in 1990 and Twentieth Century Fox secured the day to launch its big summer movie – Die Hard 2. Bruce Willis the TV star was no more and Bruce Willis the movie star was digging his heels into ground at theaters. When Die Hard made an impressive $81.4 million in 1988 against a modest $28 million budget, it didn't take Nostradamus or a Mayan calendar to predict that John McClane would soon be returning to a theater near you. Fox didn't monkey with the formula at all, such as the "wrong place, wrong time" bad luck of McClane, the Christmas holiday season and the deliberate/questionably coincidental incorporation of Reginald VelJohnson's and William Atherton's characters.
For audiences in 1990, a blind eye was turned to what today's moviegoer would likely deem as "going back to the well one too many times" and made Die Hard 2 a hit. For its first two days of release (July 4th and 5th), Die Hard 2 earned $13.9 million ($23.6 million adjusted). Obviously, Willis' second dance as McClane took the top spot for its first official weekend. Over the weekend of July 6th to 8th, Die Hard 2 grossed $21.7 million ($36.9 million adjusted) and after five days, the Renny Harlin-directed sequel had scored a cool $35.6 million ($60.6 million adjusted).
As is the trend of this summer with weekly debuts taking the top spot, everything shifted down. Slipping nearly 31% into second place is Tom Cruise's Days of Thunder with $10.7 million ($18.2 million adjusted). With a similar drop of slightly more than 34%, Dick Tracy settled into third place with $6.6 million ($11.2 million adjusted).
The only film that dared to compete with the expected hit Die Hard 2 was an attempt at counter-programming that didn't quite work out for Universal. This weekend, it opened Jetsons: The Movie to $5 million ($8.5 million adjusted), which was only good enough for a fourth place finish. Clearly, the film was based upon the Hanna-Barbera cartoon that had an unusual run that lasted only one season in 1962 but was resurrected in the mid-'80s. Without a strong showing in its first week and direct competition stealing viewers the next week, Jetsons: The Movie didn't stand much of a chance at longevity. Ultimately, the celluloid adventures of George Jetson, Jane his wife, daughter Judy and his boy Elroy would secure $19.5 million ($33.2 million adjusted) for Universal.
The top five was rounded out with Schwarzenegger's sci-fi extravaganza Total Recall earning another $4.2 million ($7.1 million adjusted). After this weekend, Arnold would fall back to earth or out of the top five at least and Total Recall would finish with $119.4 million ($203.1 million adjusted).
One weekend down and July was looking decent and weekend number two welcomed a few hopefuls but only one real contender as the Willis-Moore household would rule the box office. For its second weekend, Die Hard 2 kept a hold on the top spot even though it slid 33% to $14.5 million ($24.7 million adjusted). Willis' bread and butter franchise was proving itself as it was only $10 million shy of recouping its budget after only 12 days.
In second place, the aforementioned contender opened modestly but with a HUGE future in its cards. Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore opened the afterlife love story Ghost to $12.2 million ($20.8 million adjusted). Since we know how this film would be received and that it would become a phenomenon, it's incredible that a film could start out with little fanfare and demonstrate the kind of box office legs that are as extinct as Jennifer Grey's Dirty Dancing-era nose. For the mathematically inclined, Ghost would ultimately earn 17.83 times this debut weekend of $12.2 million for a final gross of $217.6 million ($370.2 million adjusted). That would be equitable to 2009's Public Enemies turning its third place debut of $25.3 million into $451.1 million final gross. In other words, this type of performance is impossible in today's box office.
The feats of longevity that Ghost would perform in the coming months would make Paramount very happy and shame the impressive run of Pretty Woman, which incidentally finally left the top ten this week after 115 days. First, Swayze's quest for post-life revenge would log 129 days in the box office top five and 150 days in top ten. That means that the $22 million-budgeted Ghost and its remarkable performance will be referenced in this column through November 1990. So, settle in for the long ride.
Paramount stablemate Days of Thunder continued its slide down the chart. Cruise's NASCAR film took third place with $8.2 million ($14 million adjusted). Unfortunately for Cole Trickle, this would be his final lap in the top five.
Do you remember when Walt Disney Pictures would rerelease its classic cartoons, so parents could experience the fond animated memories of their childhood with their own kids? If not, then you are missing out. This weekend in 1990, Disney reissued its version of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, which effectively spoiled the Jetsons' chance for box office redemption. Since the films it rereleased had been long since been accounted for financially, these rereleases by Disney were just gravy. Not only did its fourth place finish bring in another $7.7 million ($13.1 million adjusted), it undoubtedly brought smiles to faces of the Mouse House with the $43.5 million ($74 million adjusted) this reissue would bank.
While the clean cut comedy styling of Mr. Bill Cosby in Ghost Dad didn't crack the top five, the raunchy Andrew Dice Clay did take the number five spot with his Adventures of Ford Fairlane. Dice was at the pinnacle of his stand-up career and like so many comedians before him, he attempted to parlay that popularity onto film. The results were telling as this film, his first star vehicle, grossed $6.4 million ($10.9 million adjusted) in its first weekend and quickly faded into cult status. To bring it back around to Ghost Dad (never thought I would write that phrase), Fairlane's adventures would earn $20.4 million ($34.7 million adjusted) or about $2.5 million less than Cosby's film. I extend my condolences to Dice for losing to Ghost Dad.
Finally, there just wasn't enough room for a more deserving movie to connect with audiences. The last new film of the weekend was the criminally underrated and unseen Quick Change with Bill Murray, Geena Davis and Randy Quaid. Despite opening on more screens than both Ghost and The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Murray's bank heist comedy could only secure seventh place with $4.7 million ($8 million adjusted) and a final gross of $15.3 million. Quick Change deserved a better reception and in fact, I implore you to please place it at the top of your Netflix queue.
The reign of the Ghost was starting to become apparent as Demi Moore and Bruce Willis swap places on the chart for the third weekend of July. Sensing the potential of the film, Paramount added 300 screens showing Ghost, which had the desired effect. The ethereal tale saw an uptick of about 2% and that was good enough for $12.5 million ($21.3 million adjusted) and first place. Die Hard 2 dropped nearly 31% in its third weekend to $10 million ($17 million adjusted) in second place. Die Hard 2 could still claim the title of "number one action movie in America" even though the new Navy SEALs likely had designs on that title.
Third place went to a film that was the bane of existence for the poor schlub in charge of changing out the marquee at your local theater. Arachnophobia hit theaters boasting the pedigree of its executive producer Steven Spielberg. With its third place debut of $8 million ($13.6 million adjusted), Arachnophobia wasn't exactly the next Jaws but it was still had a strong showing. While there is not scientific data to support it, I would hypothesize that people weren't keen on sitting in a dark theater to watch a movie about tiny, deadly spiders that would easily be crawling on the back of their seat, unbeknownst to them. There wasn't a chance that a great white shark was lurking in the theater with you. In the end, the pest control porn film would earn a nice $53.2 million ($90.2 million adjusted) against a $31 million budget.
Following in the footsteps of the summer's previous faltering wannabe action flick, Fire Birds, Orion Pictures offered up Navy SEALs, starring Michael Biehn and Charlie Sheen. Biehn had been unsuccessful outside of a James Cameron movie and Navy SEALs would not be the hit he must have been aching for. The military actioner took the number four spot in its $6.5 million ($11.1 million adjusted) debut. In fifth place, The Jungle Book was down 21% to $6.1 million ($10.4 million adjusted). To recap, Navy SEALs barely edged out a 23-year-old cartoon.
As July winds down, a bankable, international star, Mr. Harrison Ford, makes a departure from his big budget, sci-fi and adventure films to explore the more dramatic side of acting in Presumed Innocent. Just one year after chasing after the Holy Grail with Sean Connery, in what many thought was and should have been the last Indiana Jones film; Ford headlines a thriller that is void of fedoras and blasters. For a role more akin to his part in Witness or The Mosquito Coast, Ford opened Presumed Innocent to $11.7 million ($19.9 million adjusted) in first place. While the debut might seem meager for a star of Ford's caliber, this film earned this amount from less than 1,400 screens. Presumed Innocent would end up with a healthy $86.3 million ($146.8 million adjusted) for Warner Bros.
Swayze and Moore missed back-to-back first place finishes by $600,000. Paramount continued its aggressive expansion by tacking on another 300 screens for Ghost. As a result, the film only dipped 11% to $11.1 million ($18.9 million adjusted).
Another weekend and another sitcom star tests the waters of box office bankability. In third place, John Ritter opened Problem Child to $10 million ($17 mil adjusted). In what is essentially a comedic take on The Omen or The Bad Seed without the looming apocalypse or high body count, Problem Child provided a heaping helping of mischief directed at Jack Tripper. Surprisingly, the film found an audience who pushed it to a cumulative total of $53.5 million ($91 million adjusted). So obviously Universal would crank out a sequel by the next year, but the bloom was already off the rose as the follow-up brought home less than half of the original.
Fourth place belonged to Arachnophobia. Thanks to the addition of approximately 350 screens, Arachnophobia actually saw a slight increase of about 1.5% to $8.2 million ($14 million adjusted). The movie that opened the month at number one had to settle for closing it in fifth place. Thanks to a drop of over 40%, Die Hard 2 grossed $6 million ($10.2 million adjusted) and would have a place at the top five table for the last time. Die Hard 2 was already sitting nicely with $87.7 million after 26 days and still had another $30 million waiting for it. At the end of its run, McClane's second worst day ever helped solidify Bruce Willis' status with a final tally of $117.3 million ($199.6 million adjusted).
July definitely brought some heat to the box office but the biggest release of the month was more a slow burn and would be a staple on the chart for months. As summer enters its last month, more challengers are waiting to battle Ghost for the top spot but will the temporary victories like with Presumed Innocent occur more often than not? Only a look at August 1990 will be able to answer that question.