Snapshot: April 21-23, 1995
By Joel West
February 25, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com

You, America's sweetheart, are going to marry a biker whose last wife was porn star Janine?
The box office performance of a film these days is almost as important as the film's quality itself. As unfortunate as that may be, the facts are the facts. So while your movie maybe as good as It's a Wonderful Life, Citizen Kane, or even The Shawshank Redemption (all box office disappointments in their own right), if the marketing, release date, and apparent quality don't resonate with audiences, its commercial success could suffer. As with everything in history, time produces clarity. This column will take a look back at a specific time at the movies and try and determine the factors that led to a movie's success or failure.

On one of the last weekends prior to the summer blockbuster season of 1995, three movie star hopefuls saw their first headlining films compete at the box office. The results launched a romcom Queen, stalled the career of a future-thrice Oscar nominated actor, and effectively ended the transition of TV actor's quest for film star success.

Spring of 1995 was a rather uneventful time at the movies. Forest Gump was still having an impact at the box office after being in theaters since summer of '94 (its Oscar sweep was no doubt responsible). Tommy Boy ($32 million), Billy Madison ($25 million) and Bad Boys ($65 million) introduced Chris Farley, Adam Sandler and Will Smith to the movie-going public after successful TV show runs, while Outbreak ($67 million) had been the season's biggest money maker. Disappointingly, Tank Girl ($4 million), Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh ($13 million), and The Quick and the Dead ($18 million) had all performed under expectations.

Outside of that, there weren't any really exciting stories to kick-off '95 at the movies.

While record-shattering numbers weren't expected, there was certainly some interesting hype leading up to the third weekend in April. David Caruso's Kiss of Death and Sandra Bullock's While You Were Sleeping both would be looking to knock two-week champ Bad Boys from the top spot. While Leonardo DiCaprio's first lead role in The Basketball Diaries wasn't expected to compete commercially with the weekend's top films, "good" critical word-of-mouth was its aspiration in order to push the film through the early days of summer.

Great expectations were behind Caruso, Bullock, and DiCaprio's first headlining efforts, as each possessed the charisma and acting chops to hopefully become A-list movie stars.

Despite never carrying a feature length film, the pressure was the greatest for Caruso. After a one year stint on the enormously popular and critically admired NYPD Blue, Caruso felt the TV show had served its purpose to launch him to superstardom. Fans, critics, and cast members were none to happy with Caruso's ego and prima donna behavior that eventually led to a bitter split from the show. No one would argue over Caruso's talents as an actor, but his premature exit from the show did not sit well with the 20-plus million that watched NYPD Blue on a weekly basis. This was not necessarily the karma the producers of his big screen debut, Kiss of Death, were hoping for when they signed him for $5 million. Outside of the bad buzz surrounding Caruso's involvement, Kiss of Death definitely possessed the makings of an intriguing crime noir. A remake of a 1947 classic, Kiss of Death also boasted a top notch cast of Nicolas Cage (back when he was an interesting actor — so pre-Leaving Las Vegas), Helen Hunt (right before Twister and As Good As It Gets), and Samuel L. Jackson (his first post-Pulp Fiction role). Director Barbet Schroeder had already balanced Oscar winning movies (Reversal of Fortune) with suspense filled dramas (Single White Female), so he clearly had the chops to bring the material together. Nonetheless, the movie didn't exactly scream blockbuster and none of the actors were considered box office pulls (not yet, Mr. Cage). For Kiss of Death to perform well, Caruso was going to have to impress the NYPD Blue fans who had felt jilted with glowing reviews.

One of 1994's biggest success stories was none other than Sandra Bullock. After paying her dues in little seen crap (Love Potion #9), expensive crap (Demotion Man), and ensemble crap (The Thing Called love), Bullock played the damsel-in-the-distress in the enormously popular Speed ($121 million). Her girl next door demeanor clearly (sarcasm) meant her follow-up would be a romantic comedy, and Sandy didn't disappoint. While You Were Sleeping would be Bullock's first chance to be in a hit without the likes of Stallone or Keanu rescuing her. Whereas America was on the outs with Caruso, it was the exact opposite for Bullock. The romcom is one of Hollywood's safest bets (i.e. reviews don't matter) and the buzz surrounding Bullock was poised to propel While You Were Sleeping to some good numbers - at least until romcom legend Meg Ryan's French Kiss opened on May 5th. Could Bullock charm movie-goers enough until Ryan ended her run?

The film with the smallest amount of expectations (it was only opening in limited release) was Leonardo DiCaprio's The Basketball Diaries. DiCaprio had already rid himself of the Growing Pains stigma with critical turns in This Boy's Life and What's Eating Gilbert Grape (for which he received his first Oscar nomination). However, outside of critics and Teen Beat readers, no one really knew him, as his previous films were little seen. Earlier in the spring, DiCaprio costarred in the aforementioned The Quick in the Dead. Fortunately, little blame was heaved at DiCaprio for the film's commercial failure as the film was already cursed with Sharon Stone's presence. *Tangent Alert – even if the film was released today with the same cast (DiCaprio, Gene Hackman, and Russell Crowe) and director (Sam Raimi), Stone would still doom the film to flop status. Oh yes, she is that powerful.*** However, DiCaprio was now front and center (even though a rapper-turned-aspiring-actor Mark Wahlberg was in a supporting role) in his first lead role and was ready to continue his maturation into leading man status. Despite the misleading title, the film was not an inspirational sports story. Instead it was an autobiographical tale about a teen's decent into drug addiction. Mainstream material this was not. But it was an opportunity to increase his fan base with yet another daring and unconventional performance. If reviews were strong, The Basketball Diaries could expand its release and have a nice little run.

When the final dollar was counted that weekend, While You Were Sleeping woke up in the top spot with $9.2 million followed by previous champ Bad Boys with $7 million. Caruso's bid for movie stardom stalled in third place with an anemic $5 million and way down in 16th place was The Basketball Diaries with just $700,000.

Bullock's romcom was the sleeper of the season as it actually improved commercially in its second weekend (up to $10 million), stomped Ryan's French Kiss ($38 million), and ended with a very healthy $81 million. Bullock knew to play to her strengths and would wait to branch into more serious turns with varying results (1996's A Time to Kill made $108 million, while 1997's In Love and War grossed just $14 million).

Movie-goers weren't ready to forgive Caruso's egotistical behavior and Kiss of Death suffered with a paltry $15 million. Reviews for the film were so-so, with critical notices going more to Cage and Jackson's performances. Caruso would get another opportunity to prove himself in the fall with Jade, but that film was DOA and finished with an embarrassing $9 million. Movie-star success always eluded Caruso, despite some good performances (Kiss of Death, Session 9, and Jade). While he did find TV success again in 2002 on CSI: Miami, he has unfortunately turned into a caricature of himself (check out his lame one-liners at the beginning of EVERY episode).

DiCaprio learned the hard way what Bullock learned the easy way as The Basketball Diaries ($2 million) never really found an audience. It's important to gain a fan base, and then branch out and do something daring (I am not saying Bullock has ever done anything remotely challenging, just that she has tried serious fare from time to time). Reviews hurt the film's chances as they were mediocre at best (really only praising DiCaprio's performance). In 1996 and 1997, DiCaprio finally played to the mainstream crowds with Romeo + Juliet ($46 million) and Titanic ($600 million) and the rest is history. He has since avoided the cookie cutter roles with risky performances in The Aviator, The Beach, and Blood Diamond and has had a rather admirable career in the process (boasting two more Oscar nominations).

The Verdict: Play to your strengths, become a movie-star, and then do whatever you want. Bullock mapped out her career as such and carved out a rather impressive niche for herself. While Caruso kind of went against type (he played a criminal as opposed to one of NY finest), the bad buzz he garnered over his behavior on NYPD Blue doomed his bid for stardom before it even got started.

And as for DiCaprio, he learned that no good will EVER come from starring in a film with fellow pretty boy Marky Mark. Unless of course you count The Departed a success, what with its Best Picture Oscar and $132 million.