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

25 years ago

Mobsters - July 26, 1991
This crime flick from Universal Pictures covers the rise of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello, and Bugsy Siegel, portrayed by Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, Costas Mandylor, and Richard Grieco. The glamorized take was a flop with critics, and Slater and Anthony Quinn later received Razzie Award nominations for their performances. While Terminator 2 held the #1 spot with $11 million in its fourth weekend, Mobsters opened at #2 with $6 million from 1,441 theaters and eventually took in $20.2 million, prompting memory of that old saying about crime.

V.I. Warshawski - July 26, 1991
This crime comedy did even worse in its debut, though. Kathleen Turner plays the private eye from the novels by Sara Paretsky in a plot surrounding the murder of a former hockey player. Results were abysmal compared to Turner’s 1980s hits, with Warshawski failing to break the top ten and earning just $3.6 million over the weekend and $11.1 million in total.

Life Stinks - July 26, 1991
This straight-up comedy from Mel Brooks is a weak imitation of Trading Places, with Brooks’s CEO character agreeing to live among the homeless on the streets of L.A. as part of a bet against his rival, played by Jeffrey Tambor. Its box office performance stunk, earning $1.9 million this weekend and only $4.1 million overall, an experience in failure for the often successful filmmaker.

Another You - July 26, 1991
The last buddy comedy and last lead roles for Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder features the two in a plot about mistaken identity and a wealthy fortune. Pryor stepped away from acting due to multiple sclerosis, and Wilder stopped making films but made an attempt at television with 1994’s Something Wilder. Another You marked an unfortunate end to two great comedic careers, earning just $1.5 million this weekend and $2.8 million overall.

30 years ago

Heartburn - July 25, 1986
Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson star in this comedy from director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Nora Ephron, about the ups and downs of marriage. Kevin Spacey has his first film role in a brief scene as an unnamed thief. Between Streep, Nicholson, Nichols, and co-star Maureen Stapleton, there was a pedigree of 21 previous Oscar nominations represented here. This one didn’t earn any, but did have the highest per-theater average of the weekend, earning $5.7 million from just 843 theaters compared to Aliens bringing in $8.6 million in its second weekend from 1,454 theaters. Top Gun, in its 11th weekend, was still in the top five and crossed over the $100 million mark this weekend. Heartburn grossed a total of $25.3 million.

Maximum Overdrive - July 25, 1986
This horror based on Stephen King’s short story Trucks marks his first and only time as a film director. Emilio Estevez stars in a plot where a close pass between Earth and a comet causes all electrical devices to go haywire and kill people. Vehicles pose a major problem to Estevez, Yeardley Smith, Frankie Faison, and Laura Harrington, in particular one big rig with Green Goblin body work on its cab. This fight for survival was not as successful as say Red Dawn, earning just $3.2 million in seventh place and grossing a maximum of $7.4 million. Maximum Overdrive remains one of the lowest grossing adaptations of King’s works.

Haunted Honeymoon - July 25, 1986
Gene Wilder wrote, directed, and starred in this horror comedy with his wife, Gene Wilder, along with Dom DeLuise. Wilder and Radner play a couple who plan to marry in his family’s castle but are disrupted by the house’s curse. DeLuise plays a drag role (“Aunt Kate”) that earned him the Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress that year. Sadly this was the last role for Radner, who died of cancer three years later. Haunted Honeymoon failed at the box office with $2.7 million this weekend and only $8 million in total.

Out of Bounds - July 25, 1986
Anthony Michael Hall stars in this thriller as a teen who is framed for his brother’s murder by a drug ring boss. Hall was trying to play against his previous comedic roles, but that came with a price that audiences didn’t want to pay: the film opened at #11 with $2.1 million and grossed only $5 million compared to the tens of millions earned by his John Hughes collaborations.


Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!

Continued:       1       2       3