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25 years ago
Dying Young - June 21, 1991
Julia Roberts’s weepy romance was a miss compared to her February hit Sleeping With the Enemy. With Prince of Thieves and City Slickers holding the #1 and #2 spots with a combined $29 million over the weekend, Dying Young opened at #3 with $9.7 million from 1,552 theaters and only earned $33 million in the U.S. The 1930’s comic book adventure The Rocketeer opened close behind at #4 with $9.6 million and grossed a total of $46 million.

The Naked Gun 2 ½: The Smell of Fear - June 28, 1991
Leslie Nielsen went from supporting actor in 1980’s Airplane! to lead role in the 1988 cop spoof The Naked Gun, both from writers Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker, and both box office hits. This sequel bought back the original cast and performed even better than its predecessor, opening at #1 with $20.8 million from 2,378 theaters and earning a total of $87 million, putting it at #10 among 1991 releases. Nielsen returned for the third and final entry in the series in 1994.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day - July 3, 1991
Though the first Terminator film had a moderate box office presence, its fans and Schwarzenegger’s growing stardom through the 1980s set up this sequel to be the biggest hit of his career. Previously the villain, Schwarzenegger’s cyborg model returns to protect young John Connor (Edward Furlong) from a more advanced liquid metal terminator played by Robert Patrick. The film’s sound and special effects earned the film four Oscars along with nominations for Best Cinematography and Editing. Terminator 2 opened on the Wednesday before the Thursday holiday, and by Sunday had earned $52.3 million from 2,274 theaters. It went on to become the highest grossing film of the year with $204 million from domestic markets as part of a $519 million total, and is still the best box office performance of Schwarzenegger’s career. Also new this weekend was John Ritter’s fatherhood comedy Problem Child 2, which opened at #5 with $5.3 million, earning a total of $25.1 million - half of its predecessor’s numbers.

30 years ago
The Karate Kid Part II - June 20, 1986
Ralph Macchio’s teen martial arts drama The Karate Kid was a top five hit for the year in 1984, and even earned Pat Morita an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In this sequel Daniel and Mr. Miyagi travel to Japan and fight to resolve issues of honor. This film outperformed its predecessor and was the most successful of the first four films until the series remake in 2010. Part II opened at #1 with #12.6 million from 1,323 theaters and grossed $115 million, putting it at #4 of the year’s releases. Also this weekend, Robert Redford and Debra Winger star in Ivan Reitman’s Legal Eagles, which opened at #2 with $8.0 million and went on to gross $49 million.

June 27, 1986
This weekend’s new releases were no match for previous releases, with The Karate Kid Part II holding #1 with $8.8 million. Danny DeVito and Bette Midler’s comedy Ruthless People opened at #4 with $5.2 million from 1,111 theaters and became a top ten hit for the year with $71 million. Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines brought in a near tie at #5 with their cop comedy Running Scared. Jim Henson’s fantasy/musical Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie, opened at #8 with $3.5 million. And the Olympic-hopeful gymnastics drama American Anthem, starring real-life gold medalist Mitch Gaylord, took in $1.8 million from 800 theaters at #9.

July 4, 1986
Similar to the previous weekend, The Karate Kid Part II again held the #1 spot with $6.2 million. The weekend’s top new release, Psycho III, opened at #8 with $3.2 million. Following closely from #9 through #12 were Disney’s animated adventure The Great Mouse Detective,, Rob Lowe and Demi Moore’s romantic comedy About Last Night…, Prince in Under the Cherry Moon, (grossing a total of $10 million compared to Purple Rain’s $68 million), and Kurt Russell’s sci-fi adventure comedy Big Trouble in Little China.

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