New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

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 look back at mid-February opening films reveals more duds than hits but does mark career beginnings for Wes Anderson, Owen and Luke Wilson, and Jackie Chan.

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

10 years ago - February 24, 2006

Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion
Tyler Perry’s sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman features his lead character taking in a foster child, (Keke Palmer in her second film role), while Madea’s nieces (Rochelle Aytes and Lisa Arrindell Anderson) deal with abusive men. Though critics gave the film mixed reviews, audiences flocked to it. Madea’s Family Reunion opened at #1 with $30 million from 2,194 theaters - a huge opening for February and huge gain over Diary Mad Black Woman’s opening on the same weekend in 2005 (thanks to a 40% increase in theaters). Madea’s Family Reunion went on to gross $63 million, making it the seconds best performer of the Madea series when adjusted for inflation. The next entry, Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail, opened in February 2009 to even greater numbers.

Doogal
This family-friendly animated "adventure" was based on the 1960s French television series that became the British series The Magic Roundabout. The film, made by French animation studio Action Synthese, initially featured French voiceovers, which were replaced with British actors Robbie Williams, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, and others for its U.K. release. For this U.S. release, the voices were dubbed over by Daniel Tay, Jon Stewart, William H. Macy, Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, and Bill Hader. Not only were the voices changed but many scenes were changed as well, resulting in a finished product that could not be more starkly different than its original form. U.S. critics made it one of the worst reviewed movies in years, even accounting for its target youth audience. As of this writing its 2.8 user rating (out of 10) on IMDb puts it in range for the site’s 100 Lowest Rated Movies list. Doogal opened at #8 with $3.6 million from 2,318 theaters and made just $7.4 from its U.S. distribution.

Running Scared
Paul Walker stars in this crime thriller about a mob guy racing against time to recover a lost gun used in a shootout involving corrupt cops. Vera Farmiga plays his wife. Reviews were mixed. With his other film Eight Below in the #2 spot in its second week, Running Scared opened at #9 with $3.3 million from 1,611 theaters and only grossed $6.8 million.

Continued:       1       2       3