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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 the 20th anniversary of Oscar wins for Mira Sorvino and Nicolas Cage. Plus, it’s Back to the Future week!

Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...

10 years ago - October 28, 2005

Saw II
Slasher horror films, of course, had been around for decades, but there was something about 2004’s Saw that caught on with audiences and launched a major horror series. This sequel was in theaters 12 months after the first movie’s release, and brings back Shawnee Smith, Adam Stanheight, Zep Hindle, Dina Meyer, and of course the killer mastermind Jigsaw, adding Donnie Wahlberg as a detective. Darren Lynn Bousman replaced James Wan as director. Whereas the first Saw was mostly a psychological horror film, the sequel helped usher in the era of “torture porn,” which didn’t sit well with critics but was a hit with audiences. Saw II opened at #1 with $31.7 million on 2,949 screens, the fifth best October opening to that time. It went on to earn $87 million, the highest grossing movie of the series, which continued annually at Halloween until 2010. And all that on just a $4 million budget.

The Legend of Zorro
Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones return for the sequel to 1998’s The Mask of Zorro. Rufus Sewell co-stars as the villain. Since her breakthrough role in the first Zorro, Catherine Zeta-Jones had since starred in Entrapment, Traffic, America’s Sweethearts, Chicago, and Ocean’s Twelve. Perhaps she was now too big a star to be Zorro’s co-star. Critics called the movie an uninspired, by-the-numbers sequel. Audiences put it at #2 for the weekend, with $16.3 million on 3,520 screens, the widest release of the weekend. Ultimately The Legend of Zorro’s $46 million gross fell well short of its budget and the previous movie’s $94 million take.

Prime
Prime is a romantic comedy starring Uma Thurman as a divorcee who becomes involved with a younger man (Bryan Greenberg in his first starring role), who happens to be the son of her therapist (Meryl Streep). Reviews were mixed, but perhaps Uma Thurman’s success with Be Cool and Kill Bill Vol. 2 the year before drew audience attention. Prime opened at #3 ahead of Dreamer with $6.2 million on 1,827 screens. It went on to earn $22.8 million.

The Weather Man
Nic Cage stars in this comedy-drama from Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski as a weatherman going through a series of personal crisis. Michael Caine, Hope Davis, and Nicholas Hoult (who had become widely known from About a Boy) co-star. Reviews were fair and so was the audience response. The Weather Man opened at #6 behind Wallace and Gromit on a moderate release of 1,510 screens for a weekend gross of $4.2 million. Its $12.4 million total was the lowest for a Nic Cage movie in over ten years.

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