Marquee History
Week 49 - 2015
By Max Braden
December 7, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week features two important highlights in Ang Lee’s career: the 10th anniversary of Brokeback Mountain and 15th of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...
10 years ago - December 9, 2005
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Originally written by C.S. Lewis in 1950, this famous fantasy series had been adapted many times for TV, stage, and radio, but had not received a major film treatment until now. William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley play four siblings who are transported from our world to a fantasy world of magical beings and talking animals. Liam Neeson voices Aslan the lion, who seeks to fulfill a prophesy and defeat the evil White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton. James McAvoy, Ray Winstone, and Rupert Everett provide some other characters and voiceovers. Shrek franchise director Andrew Adamson directs this film.
Reviews were strong and audience response was tremendous. The Chronicles of Narnia opened at #1 with $65.5 million - the third biggest opening of the year - from 3,616 theaters. This made Narnia the second biggest December opener ever to that time, behind the $72 million for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Narnia not only managed to make back its $180 million budget, but it went on to earn $291 million in the U.S. and a total of $720 million worldwide. That put it among the top 20 of worldwide earners ever released to that time. At the Oscars, the film won Best Makeup and was nominated for Sound Mixing and Visual Effects. Two sequels followed in 2008 and 2010.
Syriana
This political thriller features multinational storylines tying into themes of oil rights, arms trafficking, religion, and espionage. George Clooney leads (notably having gained a lot of weight for the role) as a CIA officer, with Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Siddig, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, and Amanda Peet co-starring, with Stephen Gaghan directing from the screenplay he adapted from Robert Baer’s memoir See No Evil. Reviews were good and the film was on many top ten lists for the year. Gaghan received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay and Clooney received his first acting nomination and win for Best Supporting Actor.
Initially opening at five theaters on November 23rd, Syriana went into wide release this weekend and grabbed the #2 spot over Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in its 4th weekend with $11.7 million. A small personal anecdote about Syriana: I was one of several paid extras in a half day of shooting a scene with Tim Blake Nelson for this film. The non-dialogue scene featured a church sequence that could have been used to compare religious practices in the story, but it was never used for the final cut.
Memoirs of a Geisha
Zhang Ziyi stars as the young Japanese girl sold by her family to a geisha house in this drama based on the 1997 novel by Arthur Golden. Director Rob Marshall was coming off of his big hit Chicago, and Zhang Ziyi had quickly risen to stardom since her breakthrough role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon five years earlier (also covered in this week’s Marquee History). Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, and Ted Levine co-star. U.S. reviewers were impressed by the look of the film but not so much by the story’s execution. China banned the film from theaters due to its history with Japan during World War II, and the film received criticism for using Chinese actors instead of Japanese actors. Audience interest was still high though, and opening at just eight theaters this weekend it had a $85,313 per-site average. Expanding to wide release at Christmas, it peaked at 1,654 theaters in January and eventually earned $57.4 million in the U.S. short of its $85 million budget. The film received six Oscar nominations, winning Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design.
Brokeback Mountain
One of two major hits directed by Ang Lee in this week’s Marquee History, this one is a drama based on the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star as two men who carry on a long-term secret sexual and emotional relationship in the 1960s and 1970s while being married to wives played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway. While the film does not directly address the politics of sexuality, it sparked conversation at a time when some states in the U.S. were just beginning to consider allowing same-sex marriage while others were actively legislating against it. Although the movie did face some conservative backlash, reviews and audience response were overwhelmingly positive.
At the Oscars, the film received eight nominations (first-time nominations for Ledger, Gyllenhaal, and Williams), winning Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Original Score, but losing Best Picture to Crash even though Brokeback Mountain had won the Producers Guild Award. The film opened at five theaters this weekend, earning a whopping $109,485 per-site average. Its release expanded to over 2,000 theaters in February, eventually grossing $83 million in the U.S.
Mrs. Henderson Presents
Judi Dench stars in this light comedy about a London variety theater in the 1930s and 1940s. Bob Hoskins and Kelly Reilly co-star with Stephen Frears directing. Reviews were good, and the film later received two Oscar nominations, for Best Actress (Dench) and Best Costume Design. It opened at only six theaters this weekend and expanded to a peak of just over 500 at the end of February, eventually earning $11.0 million in the U.S.
15 years ago - December 8, 2000
Vertical Limit
Chris O’Donnell, Bill Paxton, Robin Tunney, and Scott Glenn star in this thriller about a mountain climbing expedition gone wrong on the peak of K2. Director Martin Campbell was coming off of two successes with GoldenEye and The Mask of Zorro. Reviews for this movie were mixed. Vertical Limit opened at #2 behind How the Grinch Stole Christmas in its fourth week in the top spot, with $15.5 million from 2,307 theaters. The movie’s gross of $69 million would have been a decent result were it not for the $75 million production budget. This movie marks O'Donnell's most recent role as lead in a significant feature film, but he landed a successful position on TV with NCIS: Los Angeles starting in 2009.
Proof of Life
Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan co-star in this thriller about a kidnap & ransom expert who develops a too-close relationship with the woman who hires him to recover her husband from a kidnapping in South America. Unlike other one-man-army rescue movies like Missing in Action and Rambo, this movie treated the topic more realistically thanks to a screenplay by Tony Gilroy. He would go on to write The Bourne Identity as his next project. 2000 was a big year for Crowe, having starred in Gladiator earlier that summer. He delivers a good performance here along with David Caruso in a supporting role. Critics pointed out the that the onscreen chemistry between Crowe and Meg Ryan didn’t work, while tabloids pointed out that they had had a real life affair during filming which lead to Ryan and her husband Dennis Quaid to officially divorce in July 2001. Proof of Life opened at #3 with $10.2 million from 2,705 theaters and eventually grossed $32.5 million in the U.S.
Dungeons & Dragons
Justin Whalin and Marlon Wayons star as a pair of thieves who fight against an evil mage played by Jeremy Irons in this adventure based on the role-playing game. Despite the decades-long history of the game and other sword-and-sorcerer movie releases over that time, D&D had only had a TV series run in the mid 1980s, making this the first official live action theatrical release for the property. Released a year before Peter Jackson’s epic Lord of the Rings trilogy would begin, this movie took on a campy comedy tone, which resulted in unfavorable reviews. This was Courtney Solomon’s first project as director and he didn’t fare much better with his followup, An American Haunting. Dungeons & Dragons opened at #5 behind Unbreakable with $7.2 million from 2,078 theaters and suffered 65%+ drop-offs each week for the next month, eventually earning only $15.2 million in the U.S.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
While Hollywood had been interested in martial arts movies for decades - highlighted by Bruce Lee in the 1970s, The Karate Kid in the 1980s, and Jackie Chan in the 1990s - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was a breakout success that triggered an appreciation for high quality treatment of Chinese martial arts drama in the wuxia genre. Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen star in this story set in the 18th century about a young girl who wishes to be a great warrior, and a famed sword called the Green Destiny. Director Ang Lee had helped 1995’s Sense and Sensibility earn seven Oscar nominations (though he was not nominated himself), and again delivered a visual and dramatic masterpiece, this time with cinematographer Peter Pau.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon earned 10 Oscar nominations - this time including one for Lee - and won Best Cinematography, Best Music (by Dun Tan), Best Art Direction, and Best Foreign Language Film. The response from critics and audiences was excellent, making the movie the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever to play in U.S. theaters. Opening this weekend at 16 theaters, it made an average of $41,450 per site. The release gradually expanded to over 2,000 theaters by the end of March. By the time it left U.S. theaters it had grossed $128 million in the U.S. and a total of $213 million worldwide. The success of this film led to Zhang Ziyi starring in similar epic warrior dramas such as The Warrior, Hero, and House of Flying Daggers, as well as Rush Hour 2 and Memoirs of a Geisha. A sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is expected to see U.S. theatrical and Netflix release in 2016, starring Michelle Yeoh.
20 years ago - December 8, 1995
Father of the Bride II
Having had a successful hit with the first family comedy in 1991, Steve Martin returns with the rest of the main cast as the father who is reluctant to accept the the aging of his daughter, who is now having a baby. Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams, and George Newbern co-star, with Martin Short joining the cast as an outlandish wedding planner. Reviews were mixed but the movie was received well enough by audiences. Father of the Bride II opened at #2 behind Toy Story with $11.1 million from 1,949 theaters - an improvement over the first movie’s opening. It eventually earned $76.5 million, short of the $89 million gross of its predecessor.
Georgia
Few audiences actually saw this in the theater as it was only released on three screens, but it did receive notable attention by critics and awards groups. Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as a singer who aspires to be like her more successful and grounded sister played by Mare Winningham. Both Leigh and Winningham were nominated for Independent Spirit Awards, with Winningham winning Best Supporting Female. Winningham also received nominations for an Oscar and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
25 years ago - December 7, 1990
The Rookie
In a departure from his typical lone gunslinger projects, Clint Eastwood chose to co-star with Charlie Sheen in this buddy cop movie he also directs. This was Sheen’s third movie of the year after Navy SEALs and Men at Work. Critics were not impressed by the movie other than for a couple of its big budget action sequences. While Home Alone expanded into an additional 400+ theaters to hold on to the #1 spot for the 4th weekend in a row, The Rookie opened at #3 behind Misery with $5.5 million from 1,862 theaters. It went on to earn $21.6 million in the U.S.
Both Edward Scissorhands and The Grifters had their premieres this weekend in two theaters; I’ll cover them for their wide release dates on December 14th and January 25th respectively.
30 years ago - December 6, 1985
Spies Like Us
Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd co-star as amateur secret agents assigned to capture an ICBM launcher inside the Soviet Union in this adventure comedy from Trading Places director John Landis. Chase delivers more of his Caddyshack and Fletch charm as a spoiled horndog, while Aykroyd is the serious mission-oriented side of the pair. Bob Hope appears in a cameo role as a nod to the road-picture style of the movie. Reviewers dismissed the movie for its silliness, but it’s still entertaining fun. Paul McCartney’s theme song rose to #7 in the U.S. music charts. Spies Like Us opened at #2 behind Rocky IV with $8.6 million from 1,556 theaters - the best opening to date for Landis but short of the $12.3 July opening for Chase’s European Vacation. Spies Like Us went on to gross $60.0 million in the U.S., just short of the $61.3 million Chase helped earn for National Lampoon’s Vacation in 1983.
Young Sherlock Holmes
Barry Levinson directs this adventure from an original story by Chris Columbus featuring Holmes and Watson as teenagers who uncover a murder plot involving a cult. One of the film’s money shots involves CGI-animated stained glass soldiers during a hallucination sequence. The effect was one the reasons the film was nominated for a Best Visual Effects Oscar. Reviews were decent, and this movie was one of my early favorites for its origin-story explanation behind the Holmes character. Nicholas Rowe, who plays young Sherlock, can be seen in 2015’s Mr. Holmes as an actor playing Holmes in a movie theater. Young Sherlock Holmes opened at #5 this weekend behind Santa Claus: The Movie with $2.5 million from 920 theaters. It went on to earn $19.7 million overall.
Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!