Marquee History
Week 8 - 2016
By Max Braden
February 22, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
This week’s look back at mid-February opening films reveals more duds than hits but does mark career beginnings for Wes Anderson, Owen and Luke Wilson, and Jackie Chan.
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...
10 years ago - February 24, 2006
Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion
Tyler Perry’s sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman features his lead character taking in a foster child, (Keke Palmer in her second film role), while Madea’s nieces (Rochelle Aytes and Lisa Arrindell Anderson) deal with abusive men. Though critics gave the film mixed reviews, audiences flocked to it. Madea’s Family Reunion opened at #1 with $30 million from 2,194 theaters - a huge opening for February and huge gain over Diary Mad Black Woman’s opening on the same weekend in 2005 (thanks to a 40% increase in theaters). Madea’s Family Reunion went on to gross $63 million, making it the seconds best performer of the Madea series when adjusted for inflation. The next entry, Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail, opened in February 2009 to even greater numbers.
Doogal
This family-friendly animated "adventure" was based on the 1960s French television series that became the British series The Magic Roundabout. The film, made by French animation studio Action Synthese, initially featured French voiceovers, which were replaced with British actors Robbie Williams, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, and others for its U.K. release. For this U.S. release, the voices were dubbed over by Daniel Tay, Jon Stewart, William H. Macy, Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg, Jimmy Fallon, and Bill Hader. Not only were the voices changed but many scenes were changed as well, resulting in a finished product that could not be more starkly different than its original form. U.S. critics made it one of the worst reviewed movies in years, even accounting for its target youth audience. As of this writing its 2.8 user rating (out of 10) on IMDb puts it in range for the site’s 100 Lowest Rated Movies list. Doogal opened at #8 with $3.6 million from 2,318 theaters and made just $7.4 from its U.S. distribution.
Running Scared
Paul Walker stars in this crime thriller about a mob guy racing against time to recover a lost gun used in a shootout involving corrupt cops. Vera Farmiga plays his wife. Reviews were mixed. With his other film Eight Below in the #2 spot in its second week, Running Scared opened at #9 with $3.3 million from 1,611 theaters and only grossed $6.8 million.
15 years ago - February 23, 2001
3000 Miles to Graceland
I can see the sense of Kurt Russell as an Elvis impersonator, but Kevin Costner? Together they’re the leaders of a crew that robs a Las Vegas casino during an Elvis convention. The heavy gunplay and heist-gone-wrong plot includes Courteney Cox as a love interest and single mom. Poor reviews were followed by Golden Raspberry Award nominations for Worst Picture, Actor (Costner and his big mutton chops), Supporting Actress, Screenplay, and Screen Couple. 3000 Miles to Graceland opened at #3 behind Hannibal and Down to Earth with $7.1 million and nosedived to a total of $15.7 million (one of the worst box office results of Costner’s career when adjusted for inflation).
Monkeybone
Brendan Fraser stars in this live-action/animated comedy as a cartoonist who falls into a coma and finds himself in the animated world of his cartoon strip, while his lead character Monkeybone takes over his body in the real world. Bridget Fonda plays his real-world love interest, with Chris Kattan featured as a co-star. This kind of comedy is bound to be hit or miss, and for the most part critics and audiences agreed that it missed the mark. Monkeybone opened at #11 with $2.6 million from 1,722 theaters and took in a total of $5.4 million. That made it the weakest performer for Fraser since 1994, but he had a big hit with The Mummy Returns less than three months later.
20 years ago - February 23, 1996
Rumble in the Bronx
Fans of Hong Kong martial arts films had long been familiar with Jackie Chan throughout the 1980s but it was this film that made him known to broader audiences in the United States. Chan plays a foreign cop visiting family in the Bronx and becomes involved in rescuing them from a local gang. His famous stunt work and fighting acrobatics helped audiences look past some major faults with the production: mountains in the background of the Canadian shooting location despite its intended setting, unimpressive English language dubbing over the Cantonese dialogue, and some laughably bad street thugs. The film was a huge hit in Hong Kong, where it was released first in 1995. For its U.S. release, Rumble in the Bronx opened at #1 over Broken Arrow with $9.8 million from 1,736 theaters. His next U.S. release was Supercop during the summer of 1996, but Rumble in the Bronx’s $32.3 million gross was Jackie Chan’s best U.S. box office performer until Rush Hour in 1998.
Before and After
Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson star in this drama based on the novel by Rosellen Brown as a couple troubled by an investigation into a hit-and-run death involving their son, played by Edward Furlong. Director Barbet Schroeder had a success with Reversal of Fortune six years earlier, but did not have a critical hit with this film. Before and After opened at #7 with $4.0 million from 1,313 theaters and grossed $8.7 million overall.
Mary Reilly
Julia Roberts stars in this historical thriller from Dangerous Liaisons director Stephen Frears, based on the novel by Valerie Martin. Mary Reilly is the assistant of Dr. Jekyll (John Malkovich) and gradually discovers his alternate identity as the murderous Mr. Hyde. Glenn Close co-stars. Reviews were poor and Roberts earned a Razzie Award nomination for her performance, along with Frears as Worst Director. Mary Reilly opened at #8 with $2.8 million from 1,470 theaters and only grossed $5.7 million during its run - the poorest wide release of Julia Roberts’s career.
Unforgettable
Ray Liotta stars in this forgettable thriller as a psychologist seeking the truth about his murdered wife. Linda Fiorentino plays a colleague who provides a drug that allows Liotta to tap into the memories of others to help his investigation. Critics dismissed the movie’s sci-fi elements. Unforgettable opened at #14 with $1.4 million from 1,573 theaters for a lousy $916 per-site average for the weekend, and only managed to gross $2.8 million overall.
Bottle Rocket
This comedy caper from Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson, and Luke Wilson originally began as a short film in 1994 and was rewritten (by Owen and Wes) as a feature (the debut for the trio) after its success at the Sundance Film Festival. Owen and Luke appear in reverse hair lengths from what we’ve become familiar. Owen plays Dignan, the big idea planner of the heist plot, and Luke plays his less enthusiastic friend Anthony. Robert Musgrave co-stars as their getaway driver, and James Caan plays another crew leader. Despite good reviews, Bottle Rocket opened at only 28 theaters this weekend and never had more than 50, resulting in a $500,000 gross against a $7 million budget. But it helped launch the careers of Anderson and the Wilsons, who worked together over multiple films.
25 years ago - February 22, 1991
Scenes From a Mall
Bette Midler and Woody Allen star in this comedy from director Paul Mazursky as a married couple struggling with infidelity and keeping their marriage together. Reviews were weak, and the box office performance was especially weak for both Midler and Allen. With The Silence of the Lambs again dominating the weekend with $11.9 million, Scenes From a Mall opened at #6 with $3.8 million from 1,039 theaters.
He Said, She Said
Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins star in this romantic comedy as two journalists who face off as politically opposed hosts of an op-ed television series. Despite their differences of course they fall for each other. Nathan Lane, Anthony LaPaglia, and Sharon Stone appear in supporting roles. The movie is directed in a way that presents their relationship from both his and hers perspectives, and it was largely this storytelling device that was a sticking point with critics. He Said, She Said opened at #7 with $2.8 million from 908 theaters and went on to earn $9.8 million.
30 years ago - February 21, 1986
The Hitcher
Rutger Hauer plays the title role in this violent thriller as a serial killer who hitches a ride and torments C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh. This was director Robert Harmon’s feature length debut. Critics were not in favor of the film, which was released a few hundred theaters short of the weekend’s carryover films. The Hitcher opened at #8 with $2.1 million from 794 theaters grossed a total of $5.8 million. Howell returned for a sequel in 2003, and a remake was released in 2007 starring Sean Bean.
9 ½ Weeks
Two things sell a Hollywood movie: sex and violence. Most of the time these elements are highlighted as a scene in a broader story, but every five to ten years we see a movie released that advertises blatant eroticism as its primary draw (usually at the expense of other qualities). In 2015 it was Fifty Shades of Grey. In 1986 it was this movie starring Mickey Rourke as John Gray, a Wall Street finance guy who coaxes Kim Basinger’s art gallery character into various kinky sex play activities during their brief affair. Basinger had gained fame in 1983 as a Bond girl in Never Say Never Again and for posing in Playboy, while Rourke had gained fame the same year for Diner. Director Adrian Lyne’s previous film was Flashdance, and he would go on to direct Fatal Attraction after this one. Reviews were mixed - some were favorable to the characters and story, but Basinger was nominated for a Razzie Award (Rourke would get his own nomination for the erotic drama Wild Orchid in 1991) - and while not many audiences got to see this in theaters, it was certainly talked about and became a hit on cable and home video. 9 ½ Weeks opened at 28 theaters this weekend with a strong $11,743 per-site average and went on to earn $6.7 million as one of the year’s stronger limited releases. Rourke starred in a direct-to-video sequel with Angie Everhart in 1997, and a prequel in the series was also released to video in 1998.
Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!