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Welcome to another edition of Marquee History, the 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 highlights are the 10th anniversary of Stranger Than Fiction and 20th anniversary of Mel Gibson’s box office hit Ransom.

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


10 years ago

Stranger Than Fiction - November 10, 2006
This was my favorite film of 2006.  Will Ferrell stars as Harold Crick, who lives a routine life working for the IRS.  While auditing a baker, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, it becomes increasingly apparent that Crick’s life is controlled by a novelist, Karen Eiffel, played by Emma Thompson, and she’s about to kill him off in her writing.  Dustin Hoffman plays a professor who helps analyze the writing for Crick as he tries to avoid death and other surreal developments while falling for Gyllenhaal’s character.   The result is a wonderfully sincere romance from Oscar-winning writer-director Marc Forster.  Ferrell later received a Golden Globe nomination for his role.  Stranger Than Fiction opened at #4 with $13.4 million from 2,264 theaters and earned $40 million overall.

The Return - November 10, 2006
Sarah Michelle Gellar stars in yet another horror flick, opening at #9 with $4.4 million and bringing in $7.7 million overall.

A Good Year - November 10, 2006
After a string of high profile projects, Russell Crowe starred in this romance as a London power broker who goes to France to handle the inheritance of a family vineyard and converts to a pastoral life.   Marion Cotillard, Albert Finney, and Abbie Cornish co-star.  Director Ridley Scott and Crowe previously worked together on Gladiator.  A Good Year opened at #10 with $3.7 million and brought in $7.4 million overall.

Harsh Times - November 10, 2006
Christian Bale plays an out of work and increasingly out of control military veteran who pulls his friend, played by Freddy Rodriguez, into increasingly violent situations.  Director David Ayer previously helmed Training Day and S.W.A.T., but this project was more character driven and   failed to bring in audiences.  Harsh Times opened in moderate release at #13 with $1.9 million and only earned $3.3 million overall.

15 years ago

Shallow Hal - November 9, 2001
Jack Black stars as Hal, who is hypnotized by Tony Robbins into seeing the inner beauty of women regardless of their outward appearance.  He falls for an overweight woman named Rosemary, played by the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow in the eyes of Hal, which complicates both his professional life and friendships.  The Farrelly Brothers comedy brought in audiences and landed at #2 behind Monsters, Inc. in its second weekend, with $22.5 million from 2,770 sites.  This was a solid opening for the Farrellys, but its $70 million gross was well short of their 1998 peak with There’s Something About Mary.

Heist - November 9, 2001
David Mamet’s double cross drama stars Gene Hackman, Danny DeVito, and Delroy Lindo, along with Sam Rockwell, Rebecca Pidgeon, and Ricky Jay.  The plot involves some gold bars, but as with any Mamet film the love-it or hate-it feature is the dialogue.  Critics were mostly favorable, and audiences made it the best opening and highest grossing film of Mamet’s career.  Heist opened at #5 behind previous week’s carryovers The One and Domestic Disturbance, with $7.8 million from 1,891 theaters, eventually walking away with $23.5 million overall.

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