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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!

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