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Welcome to 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 edition covers highlights from weekly theatrical releases in the month of March for years 2006, 2001, 1996, 1991, and 1986.

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

10 years ago - March 2006

March 3rd new releases:
16 Blocks / Ultraviolet / Aquamarine / Dave Chappelle’s Block Party
With Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion holding the #1 box office spot in its second weekend ($12.6 million), the most notable of the new releases was Dave Chappelle’s Block Party. Chappelle had aired two seasons of Chappelle’s Show in 2003 and 2004 before filming this documentary during the summer and fall of 2004 with director Michel Gondry. The block party event took place at the Broken Angel House in Brooklyn and featured a remarkable mix of music artists, including Mos Def, Kayne West, Erykah Badu, and The Fugees reunited with Lauryn Hill. While his show’s first season became the best-selling television series DVD of all time, Chappelle made news by walking away from his $50 million contract and disappearing to South Africa for a time in the summer of 2005. In lieu of a third season, fans first saw this film screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005. Dave Chappelle’s Block Party was released to strong reviews this weekend at 1,200 theaters, putting it in the #7 spot with $6.2 million on the way to a total of $11.7 million.

March 10th new releases:
Failure to Launch / The Shaggy Dog / The Hills Have Eyes
The new releases this weekend captured the #1, #2, and #3 box office spots, with Failure to Launch taking in $24.4 million from 3,057 theaters. The Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy scored the best box-office opening of their careers to date, though its $88 million total gross fell short of the $105 million for How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days three years earlier. Parker had won an Emmy award for the last season of Sex in the City in 2004; the television series was later made into a movie in 2008.

March 17th new releases:
V for Vendetta / She’s the Man / Find Me Guilty / Thank You For Smoking
The dark political thriller V for Vendetta was James McTeigue’s debut as a director after having worked on The Matrix trilogy with the Wachowski brothers. Hugo Weaving from that series plays a masked vigilante who guides Natalie Portman’s character and the people of an alternate future’s United Kingdom to rise up against their oppressive government on the anniversary of the Gunpowder Plot. Though the film was based on a graphic novel from 1988, it was starkly relevant at a time of growing concern about government security regimes since 9/11/2001. The film’s legacy has continued in the form of the Guy Fawkes mask, designed by graphic artist David Lloyd, being adopted as an anti-authoritarian symbol by various protest groups and movements. V for Vendetta opened at #1 with $25.6 million from 3,365 theaters and eventually earned $70.5 million in the U.S. Also taking a darkly funny view on the business of social vices was Thank You For Smoking, which opened in five theaters this weekend before getting a moderately wide release in April.

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