Marquee History
Weeks 24, 2016
By Max Braden
June 13, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week’s highlights are the 25th anniversary of Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and 30th anniversary of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...
10 years ago
Nacho Libre - June 16, 2006
Jack Black stars in this comedy written by Mike White about a cook who works at an orphanage while taking on a secret life as a masked Mexican professional wrestler (lucha libre) named Nacho. Black and White (oley!) had both worked together on School of Rock three years earlier, and director Jared Hess had a surprise hit with his low budget project Napoleon Dynamite in 2004. This film didn’t exactly win over critics but it managed to be financially successful. Nacho Libre opened at #2 behind holdover Cars with $29.3 million from 3,070 theaters, and went on to gross $80 million in the U.S.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift - June 16, 2006
This third entry in the car-focused action franchise was something of a spinoff, since it didn’t feature Vin Diesel or Paul Walker, and is out of the sequential timeline of their movies. Sung Kang’s character Han plays a significant supporting role and the events of this story later became an important catalyst for the plot of 2015’s Furious 7. Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights) stars as a rebellious teenager from the U.S. transplanted to Japan, where he learns drifting and goes after the Drift King title held by Brian Tee’s character. Drifting has been popular in Japanese culture for years, highlighted by the animated series Initial D, but under-appreciated in America, where the Formula D professional motorsport series had just come into existence only a few years before this film. Reviews of the acting and plot were weak and without the franchise’s major stars, audiences didn’t support this film as much as its two predecessors. Tokyo Drift opened at #3 with $23.9 million and only made $62 million in the U.S. However, it did earn $95 million from overseas markets, and director Justin Lin was brought back for the fourth, fifth, and sixth movies in the franchise.
The Lake House - June 16, 2006
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock are back together again 12 years after co-starring in Speed. This bittersweet romance has a sci-fi element, where their characters live in the same house but two years apart, communicating via letters in the house’s mailbox. Despite weak reviews, this film’s box office results were within range of Bullock’s other films since her $106 million hit Miss Congeniality in 2000. The Lake House opened at #4 with $13.6 million, and went on to gross $52 million.
Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties - June 16, 2006
This CGI animated comedy is the sequel to the 2004 Garfield film inspired by the comic strip. Bill Murray returns as the voice of Garfield, with Breckin Meyer playing Jon Arbuckle. Jennifer Love Hewitt plays Jon’s love interest. Tim Curry voices a royal cat in London who looks just like Garfield. A Tail of Two Kitties attracted about a third of its predecessor’s domestic audience, opening at #7 with $7.2 million, going on to a $28.4 million total in the U.S. However, both Garfield films were popular in foreign markets, where this one earned $113 million.
15 years ago
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - June 15, 2001
Angelina Jolie takes on the iconic video game adventurer in this big budget action film. After some award-winning roles, Jolie was part of the blockbuster Gone in 60 Seconds the previous summer. This Tomb Raider plot involves a device called the “Triangle of Light,” a planetary alignment, and an Illuminati conspiracy. Jolie’s real life father Jon Voight plays Croft’s father in the film, and Daniel Craig co-stars with an American accent at a time when he was largely unknown to American audiences.
Reviews were poor, with Jolie later earning a Razzie Award nomination, but box office was the prize here. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider opened at #1 with $47 million from 3,308 theaters, the third biggest opening for a June release as of 2001. Its $131 million domestic gross is still the highest for a video game adaptation as of 2016. Jolie returned for a sequel in 2003. In April 2016, Alicia Vikander was named as the next Lara Croft.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire - June 8, 2001
Opening on June 8th at just two theaters, Atlantis expanded to over 3,000 theaters this weekend. Along with Lara Croft, this film made it a big weekend for fantasy archaeology adventures. Disney’s animated film features Michael J. Fox as the voice of Milo Thatch, a Smithsonian Institute scientist who leads a team to uncover the ancient submerged city in 1914. Regardless of fair reviews, this film did not match up at the box office to Disney’s past decade of traditionally animated hits nor more recent CGI animated hits. Atlantis took the #2 spot at the box office with $20.3 million, taking in $84 million in the U.S. and another $101 million from foreign markets.
Sexy Beast - June 8, 2001
Opening in limited release this weekend, this British crime drama eventually earned $6.9 million from a peak distribution of less than 200 theaters. Ray Winstone stars as a safe-cracker, but the real draw was the performance of Ben Kingsley as a fiercely intimidating criminal who insists that Winstone’s character help him rob a bank, with the backing of a character played by Ian McShane. Kingsley later received the third Oscar nomination of his career for his supporting role.
20 years ago
The Cable Guy - June 14, 1996
Jim Carrey’s style of comedy has certainly been loud and in your face, but up to this point he had mostly played fun characters like Ace Ventura. His role in this dark comedy was a stalkerish cable television installer who takes it personally when Matthew Broderick’s character doesn’t want to be his friend. One of the more memorable sequences takes place at Medieval Times, where Chip takes takes the combat to a dangerous level. Leslie Mann co-stars as Broderick’s girlfriend. This film was Ben Stiller’s second time as director, and the first producing role for Judd Apatow. The Cable Guy opened at #1 with $19.8 million from 2,657 theaters and went on to gross $60 million domestically, Carrey’s lowest result of his first six lead roles since 1994.
In limited release this weekend, the drama Stealing Beauty starred Liv Tyler, Joseph Fiennes, and Jeremy Irons, and saw a theatrical run worth $4.7 million.
25 years ago
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - June 14, 1991
Less than three months earlier, Kevin Costner had just collected Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Dances With Wolves, which was still in the box office top 15 this weekend and crossing a total of $170 million. With Robin Hood, Costner was about to score the second highest grossing film of his career. Costner was certainly the draw at the start of its theatrical run, especially for the romance with Maid Marian, played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. But it was soon clear that the standout performance was from Alan Rickman as the entertainingly despicable and grousing Sheriff of Nottingham. Rickman wasn’t nominated for an Oscar but did win the BAFTA for Best Actor.
The one Oscar nomination for the film went to Michael Kamen, Bryan Adams, and Robert John Lange for the song “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” which also won a Grammy. Kamen’s horn-driven musical score is also still immediately identifiable today. Morgan Freeman has some fun dialogue as Robin Hood’s “moorish” companion, Azeem, and Sean Connery surprised audiences with a cameo after the story’s climax. On the other end of the scale though, Costner and Christian Slater received Razzie Award nominations, with Costner winning Worst Actor. Nonetheless, audiences clearly enjoyed the film more than critics. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves opened at #1 with $25.6 million from 2,369 theaters, which was the third best June opening to that time and more than the next four films this weekend combined. It went on to gross $165 million domestically, the second best of the year behind Terminator 2.
In limited release this weekend, the martial arts sequel Kickboxer 2 opened at 184 theaters with Sasha Mitchell replacing Jean-Claude Van Damme, and went on to make $1.2 million.
30 years ago
Back to School - June 13, 1986
Rodney Dangerfield stars in this Harold Ramis comedy as Thornton Melon, a self-made millionaire who never got a proper school education and decides to attend the same college as his son Jason, played by Keith Gordon. Burt Young plays Dangerfield’s bodyguard, Robert Downey Jr. plays Jason’s friend, and William Zabka of course plays the college baddie. Dangerfield’s fun, irreverent style of comedy led the film to success both with critics and audiences. Back to School opened at #1 with $8.8 million from 1,605 theaters and went on to gross an impressive $91 million, the sixth highest of the year.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off - June 11, 1986
In hindsight it seems remarkable that Ferris would be beat out by Back to School at the box office (both weekend and total gross), given the cherished position among 1980s comedies that Ferris Bueller’s Day Off has enjoyed ever since. Maybe it’s a victory that a movie about attending school beat one about skipping school. What made and makes Ferris Bueller stand out among other high school comedies of the era is the sincere attitude of joie de vivre. The tone is not raunchy or destructive. Ferris isn’t a rebel without a cause; he has loving parents, is a hero among his classmates, and isn’t out to tear anyone down. He just wants to have fun.
About the only people who don’t like him are his sister Jeannie, played by Jennifer Grey (a year before Dirty Dancing), and the school’s Principal Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), who isn’t quite the intimidating force of Assistant Principal Vernon in The Breakfast Club. Matthew Broderick had been known for a few years due to his roles in WarGames and Ladyhawke, and John Hughes had written National Lampoon’s Vacation, and wrote and directed The Breakfast Club, Weird Science, and Pretty In Pink. This was the second film role for Mia Sara, playing Ferris’s girlfriend, who had starred in Legend with Tom Cruise earlier in the year.
In addition to the story tone, Hughes took the unconventional approach of having his main character talk directly to the audience and explain his plans. His direction also makes the story feel like an actual day out because of all the places in Chicago it visits, including a real baseball game at Wrigley Field and an actual parade with floats, where Ferris sings “Danke Schoen” and “Twist and Shout.” Hughes also doesn’t just give us the upside of life; Ferris’s best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) is dealing with an identity crisis and serious issues with his father, all while suffering a cold and Ferris’s effortless hijinks.
Two of the film’s best scenes are the more introspectives ones, as Cameron loses himself in a painting at the Art Institute of Chicago, and later (accidentally) kills his father’s 1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder in a fit of frustration. Featuring that car put Ferris Bueller’s Day Off among the iconic car movies in its era. The film also remains quotable through various scenes, such as the one with Ben Stein droning on in front of a bored class, prompting “Anyone?...Anyone?” or Charlie Sheen’s brief police station scene near the end.
You could go on and on about what a classic this is, and still debate whether it’s John Hughes’ best film. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off opened at #2 with $6.2 million from 1,330 theaters. It went on to gross $70 million on a budget under $6 million, the highest gross of Hughes-directed films (beat out by Christmas Vacation and of course Home Alone of films written by Hughes).
The Manhattan Project - June 13, 1986
Highlighting the nuclear fears of the era, this drama tells the story of a high school kid who decides to expose a secret military program by stealing plutonium and constructing a nuclear bomb for his school science fair. Christopher Collet stars, with John Lithgow, John Mahoney, Jill Eikenberry, and Cynthia Nixon. Richard Jenkins appears in one of his early film roles. The Manhattan Project opened at #9 with $1.5 million from 827 theaters and ended up with $3.9 million.
Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!