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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 features two important highlights in Ang Lee’s career: the 10th anniversary of Brokeback Mountain and 15th of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

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

10 years ago - December 9, 2005

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Originally written by C.S. Lewis in 1950, this famous fantasy series had been adapted many times for TV, stage, and radio, but had not received a major film treatment until now. William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Skandar Keynes, and Georgie Henley play four siblings who are transported from our world to a fantasy world of magical beings and talking animals. Liam Neeson voices Aslan the lion, who seeks to fulfill a prophesy and defeat the evil White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton. James McAvoy, Ray Winstone, and Rupert Everett provide some other characters and voiceovers. Shrek franchise director Andrew Adamson directs this film.

Reviews were strong and audience response was tremendous. The Chronicles of Narnia opened at #1 with $65.5 million - the third biggest opening of the year - from 3,616 theaters. This made Narnia the second biggest December opener ever to that time, behind the $72 million for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. Narnia not only managed to make back its $180 million budget, but it went on to earn $291 million in the U.S. and a total of $720 million worldwide. That put it among the top 20 of worldwide earners ever released to that time. At the Oscars, the film won Best Makeup and was nominated for Sound Mixing and Visual Effects. Two sequels followed in 2008 and 2010.

Syriana
This political thriller features multinational storylines tying into themes of oil rights, arms trafficking, religion, and espionage. George Clooney leads (notably having gained a lot of weight for the role) as a CIA officer, with Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Alexander Siddig, Tim Blake Nelson, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, and Amanda Peet co-starring, with Stephen Gaghan directing from the screenplay he adapted from Robert Baer’s memoir See No Evil. Reviews were good and the film was on many top ten lists for the year. Gaghan received an Oscar nomination for his screenplay and Clooney received his first acting nomination and win for Best Supporting Actor.

Initially opening at five theaters on November 23rd, Syriana went into wide release this weekend and grabbed the #2 spot over Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in its 4th weekend with $11.7 million. A small personal anecdote about Syriana: I was one of several paid extras in a half day of shooting a scene with Tim Blake Nelson for this film. The non-dialogue scene featured a church sequence that could have been used to compare religious practices in the story, but it was never used for the final cut.

Memoirs of a Geisha
Zhang Ziyi stars as the young Japanese girl sold by her family to a geisha house in this drama based on the 1997 novel by Arthur Golden. Director Rob Marshall was coming off of his big hit Chicago, and Zhang Ziyi had quickly risen to stardom since her breakthrough role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon five years earlier (also covered in this week’s Marquee History). Ken Watanabe, Michelle Yeoh, and Ted Levine co-star. U.S. reviewers were impressed by the look of the film but not so much by the story’s execution. China banned the film from theaters due to its history with Japan during World War II, and the film received criticism for using Chinese actors instead of Japanese actors. Audience interest was still high though, and opening at just eight theaters this weekend it had a $85,313 per-site average. Expanding to wide release at Christmas, it peaked at 1,654 theaters in January and eventually earned $57.4 million in the U.S. short of its $85 million budget. The film received six Oscar nominations, winning Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design.

Brokeback Mountain
One of two major hits directed by Ang Lee in this week’s Marquee History, this one is a drama based on the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal star as two men who carry on a long-term secret sexual and emotional relationship in the 1960s and 1970s while being married to wives played by Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway. While the film does not directly address the politics of sexuality, it sparked conversation at a time when some states in the U.S. were just beginning to consider allowing same-sex marriage while others were actively legislating against it. Although the movie did face some conservative backlash, reviews and audience response were overwhelmingly positive.

At the Oscars, the film received eight nominations (first-time nominations for Ledger, Gyllenhaal, and Williams), winning Best Director, Best Writing, and Best Original Score, but losing Best Picture to Crash even though Brokeback Mountain had won the Producers Guild Award. The film opened at five theaters this weekend, earning a whopping $109,485 per-site average. Its release expanded to over 2,000 theaters in February, eventually grossing $83 million in the U.S.

Mrs. Henderson Presents
Judi Dench stars in this light comedy about a London variety theater in the 1930s and 1940s. Bob Hoskins and Kelly Reilly co-star with Stephen Frears directing. Reviews were good, and the film later received two Oscar nominations, for Best Actress (Dench) and Best Costume Design. It opened at only six theaters this weekend and expanded to a peak of just over 500 at the end of February, eventually earning $11.0 million in the U.S.

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