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Welcome to another edition of Marquee History, taking 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...even 35 years ago.
 
After a spring lull, we look back at the start of the Hollywood summer season, with some big box office anniversaries for May and early June.
 
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees…

10 YEARS AGO

Spider-Man 3 - May 4, 2007
Tobey Maguire’s Peter Parker battles Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Venom (Topher Grace), and friend-foe Green Goblin (James Franco). The film opened at #1, set US and worldwide single day records, and set the US weekend record with $151 million from 4,252 theaters, but it actually earned the least of Sam Raimi’s trilogy with $336 million from U.S. theaters.  The series was rebooted in 2012 with Andrew Garfield as The Amazing Spider-Man.

28 Weeks Later - May 11, 2007
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s zombie sequel to Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later opened at #2 with $9.8 million and scored good reviews for its unrelenting pace.
 
Shrek the Third - May 18, 2007
The third animated fairytale comedy in the DreamWorks franchise finds Shrek as heir to the kingdom and fending off claims from Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) and Arthur Pendragon (Justin Timberlake).  The lovable ogre took down Spider-Man for the #1 spot with a $121 million opening (which would have been the May record) from 4,122 theaters and eventually grossed $322 million.
 
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End - May 25, 2007
The third of this franchise introduces Chow Yun-fat and Keith Richards as as a pirate lords, travels to the world of the dead to recover Jack Sparrow, and features a battle between the Black Pearl and the Flying Dutchman.  It is the most expensive film ever produced ($300 million), but did make back the money with a five-day Memorial Day take of $139 million, U.S. total gross of $309 million, and a worldwide total of $963 million (third best ever to that time).  
 
Knocked Up - June 1, 2007
The pregnancy comedy with Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl scored strong reviews and a #2 weekend opening with $30 million.  Its $148 million domestic gross was the best of director Judd Apatow’s career to date.
 
Ocean’s Thirteen - June 8, 2007
Danny’s crew uses a giant underground drill to take down Willy Bank (Al Pacino) and his new casino in the third of Soderbergh’s trilogy.  Ocean’s Thirteen replaced the Pirates at #1 with $36 million from 3,565 theaters and took in $117 million, significantly lower than the first film’s $183 million domestic gross.  Sandra Bullock is expected to head the spinoff Ocean’s Eight in 2018.

15 YEARS AGO
 
Spider-Man - May 3, 2002
Tobey Maguire stars in Peter Parker’s origin story dueling against Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin in Columbia/Sony’s big budget project with Sam Raimi at the helm. It took years of litigation and a superhero revival thanks to X-Men, but the wait paid off with the first eight-digit opening weekend record: $114.8 million from 3,615 theaters.  It also tied Titanic’s record for fastest to $400 million at 66 days, with a total gross of $403 million.  That domestic total is still in the top 25 all-time as of June 2017.
 
Unfaithful - May 10, 2002
Diane Lane’s sexy and anguished performance in this erotic thriller earned her her first and only Oscar nomination, for Best Actress.  This is director Adrian Lyne’s most recent work.  Unfaithful opened at #2 with $14 million from 2,617 theaters and grossed $52.7 million.  
 
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones - May 16, 2002
Hayden Christensen is featured as the young Anakin Skywalker, protector of Senator Padme Amidala and apprentice to Obi-Wan Kenobi, who uncovers the secret army cloned from Jango Fett. Had it not been for Spider-Man, Attack of the Clones’ $80 million opening would have been the second best ever, behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’s $90 million the previous November.  Clones brought in $302 million in the U.S. and $649 million total worldwide, compared to $821 million for Spider-Man.
 
About a Boy - May 17, 2002
Hugh Grant received great reviews and writers Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz received an Oscar nomination for their adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel.
 
Memorial Day Weekend - May 24, 2002
With Star Wars and Spider-Man in the top spots, Insomnia, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Enough opened at third, fourth, and fifth at the box office.
 
The Sum of All Fears - May 31, 2002
Eight years after Harrison Ford last portrayed CIA analyst Jack Ryan, Ben Affleck took over in this reboot of the timeline.  The plot features a nuclear bomb set off at Baltimore football game  in a film released just nine months after the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The Tom Clancy thriller took the #1 spot at the box office with $31.1 million and finished at $118.9 million, slightly down from the series peak of $122 million for Clear and Present Danger.  It was another 12 years before we saw the series rebooted again with Jake Ryan: Shadow Recruit.  Also this weekend: Eddie Griffin starred in the hilarious spy comedy Undercover Brother.
 
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood - June 7, 2002
Sandra Bullock starred in this female bonding drama directed by Callie Khouri (of Thelma & Louise).  The sisterhood debuted at #2, just $3 million shy of The Sum of All Fears’ second weekend, with $16.1 million (and a better per-theater average) headed toward a total of $69 million.

 

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