Marquee History
Week 36 - 2015
By Max Braden
September 5, 2015
Welcome to Marquee History, the weekly column that takes you back to a time when you - or your parents - were younger. Prepare to become nostalgic (and shocked) at how much time has passed when you recall what was new in theaters 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years ago.
This week's highlights are a mix of strong and weak opening movies, and creative hits Nurse Betty and To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar.
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...
10 years ago - September 9, 2005
The Exorcism of Emily Rose
This horror film about an exorcism gone wrong stars Jennifer Carpenter as the victim, with Laura Linney as a lawyer defending the priest played by Tom Wilkinson. Despite mostly taking place in a courtroom and some mixed reviews, the creepy flashbacks to the girl’s possession caught the attention of audiences. Carpenter later won “Best Frightened Performance” at the MTV Movie Awards. The movie outperformed April’s remake of The Amityville Horror and had the third best September opening weekend up to that year (later passed by Hotel Transylvania and Insidious Chapter 2). The Exorcism of Emily Rose opened at #1 with $30 million for the weekend and eventually went on to earn $75 million domestically, a great success over its $19 million budget.
The Man
Eugene Levy stars in this comedy as a dentist who becomes the target of an ATF agent, played by Samuel L. Jackson due to mistaken identity. Reviews were lousy. The wasn’t a good year for Levy, as he was later nominated for a Razzie Award for both this and Cheaper By the Dozen 2 at the end of the year. The Man opened at #6 on 2,040 screens with $4.0 million, and eventually earned $8.3 million overall.
An Unfinished Life
Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman play a couple of ranchers with a complicated friendship. Jennifer Lopez costars. Lasse Hallstrom directs from the novel by Mark Spragg. An Unfinished Life opened in limited release to mixed reviews, earning $1.0 million for the weekend. It expanded a week later but only drew in $8.5 million, far short of its $30 million budget.
15 years ago - September 8, 2000
The Watcher
A month after starring in the romantic comedy The Replacements, Keanu Reeves plays a serial killer in this R-rated thriller. James Spader plays an FBI agent and the killer’s target. Reviews were lousy, and Reeves later earned a Razzie nomination for Worst Supporting Actor. Audiences must have felt compelled to grab on to anything new, as the previous week’s opener Highlander: Endgame fell to #10. The Watcher opened at #1 on 2,742 screens, the weekend’s widest release, with $9 million. It eventually left theaters with $28 million.
Nurse Betty
Director Neil LaBute’s third dark comedy stars Renee Zellweger as a waitress who becomes delusional after witnessing a murder, and Morgan Freeman as a slightly less delusional hitman (who killed her husband) who becomes infatuated with her. Critics responded much more positively to this comedy than LaBute’s harsher In The Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors. Zellweger went on to win a Golden Globe for her performance. Nurse Betty had the best site average of the weekend, opening at #2 on 1,459 screens with $7.1 million. It eventually earned $25 million.
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