Marquee History
Week 47 - 2015
By Max Braden
November 23, 2015
15 years ago - November 24, 2000
Unbreakable
Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan set a high bar for himself with the success of The Sixth Sense, a huge audience hit and the #2 box office earner in 1999 with $293 million from U.S. theaters. For Unbreakable he again called on Bruce Willis to star as an ordinary man who is informed by Samuel L. Jackson’s character that he may have superhero powers. Unbreakable was one of the first modern "origin story" takes on comic book characters and is more of a suspense thriller than the flashy action of Spider-Man (2002) and Batman Begins (2005). With The Sixth Sense, this film helped establish Shyamalan’s reputation for films with twists at the end and a touch of universal primal fear. Unbreakable received good reviews but critics and audiences weren’t wowed by the ending as much as they had hoped to be with The Sixth Sense in mind. Unbreakable opened at #2 behind How The Grinch Stole Christmas with $30 million for Friday-to-Sunday and $46 million for the whole Thanksgiving weekend. It stayed in theaters through the spring, earning just under $95 million in the U.S. but also over $150 million from foreign markets.
102 Dalmatians
Glenn Close returns as Cruella de Vil in the live-action sequel to 1996’s 101 Dalmations. The first movie was a remake of Disney’s own animated movie from 1961, about a fashion designer who wants to use puppies for their fur. Ioan Gruffudd plays the dog shelter owner and hero of the film. The first movie did well, grossing $136 million in the U.S. This sequel faced weaker reviews, and after opening at #2 with $19.8 million ($26.2 million five-day) from 2,704 theaters it brought in $66 million in the U.S. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design.
Quills
Quills is a drama set in late 18th century France about the life of the Marquis de Sade. Geoffrey Rush plays the notoriously perverse writer, while Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix co-star as love interests under his influence. Director Philip Kaufman had previously written and directed Henry & June in 1990, the first film to receive an NC-17 rating. Reviews for Quills were good and Rush later received an Oscar nomination for his performance, alongside nominations for Art Direction and Costume Design. Quills opened at nine theaters this weekend and expanded to just over 200 at the end of the year, ultimately earning $7 million in the U.S.
20 years ago - November 24, 1995
Toy Story
Take away every technical achievement of Toy Story and you still have something brilliant at its core: a world in which toys have life of their own, with their own fears and jealousy and a simple desire to bring joy to the children who play with them. Tom Hanks voices a cowboy doll named Woody who is the de facto leader of a chest full of toys until a modern, flashy action figure named Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen) is introduced and upsets the group dynamic. A multigenerational appeal wasn’t new in modern animated movies - consider the comedic references in the performance by Robin Williams in 1992’s Aladdin - but the inclusion of classic toys like plastic army men, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, and others tapped into a nostalgia in older viewers. At the same time, Buzz Lightyear’s catchphrase “To infinity... and beyond!” was something kids could easily latch on to, and the character would go on to become a major franchise of its own.
Reviews were out of this world, as were revenues. Opening the day before Thanksgiving, Toy Story took the #1 spot from last week’s GoldenEye with $29 million/$39 million (three-day, five-day totals) from 2,457 theaters, the third best Friday-to-Sunday opening gross of the year. It held on to the top spot for two more weeks and stayed in the top ten through January, and continued in theaters all the way to August 1996. Its $191 million domestic gross put it at #3 for animated movies up to that time, behind 1994’s The Lion King ($422 million) and 1992’s Aladdin ($217 million). Toy Story earned another $172 million from foreign box office.
It received three Oscar nominations, for Best Writing, Best Music, and Best Original Song (Randy Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”), plus a Special Achievement Award for being the first feature-length computer-animated film. In 2005 it was added to the National Film Registry. The movie turned into a franchise with two theatrical sequels, two holiday TV specials, additional animated shorts, comic books, video games, merchandise, and theme park rides.
Money Train
Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson star in this action film about a pair of transit cops who attempt to rob a New York City subway train full of fare income. 1995 was the year Jennifer Lopez started appearing in significant film roles, and in this movie she co-stars as a cop and love interest. Snipes and Harrelson both had their film debuts together in Wildcats and then had a big hit together with 1992’s White Men Can’t Jump. Unfortunately, this movie was a bust. Reviews were poor and the U.S. box office came in just over half of the movie’s budget. Money Train opened at #4 behind Ace Ventura 2 with $10 million (15.5 million five-day) from 2,522 theaters. It made $35 million in the U.S. and only $77 million worldwide.
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