Marquee History
Week 37 - 2016
By Max Braden
September 12, 2016
BoxOfficeProphets.com
A relatively insubstantial week for mid-September movie anniversaries also includes the significant anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and their effects on Hollywood.
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...
10 years ago
Gridiron Gang - September 15, 2006
By the fall of 2006, Dwayne Johnson had had a handful of mixed box office results: the big budget sequel The Scorpion King in 2002 was his first and best result at $91 million, while 2005’s Doom was his weakest result at $28 million. In this sports drama he plays a probation officer who decides to create a football team for gang members and troubled teens, named the Kilpatrick Mustangs. Reviews were modest and the film would eventually take in $38 million, but at least he could say this one brought in more than the film’s budget. Gridiron Gang opened at #1 with $14.4 million from 3,504 theaters.
The Black Dahlia - September 15, 2006
Director Brian DePalma’s adaptation of James Ellroy’s novel stars Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart as the LAPD detectives investigating the 1947 murder of Elizabeth Short. Scarlett Johansson co-stars. The Black Dahlia didn’t receive strong reviews, but Vilmos Zsigmond’s cinematography was nominated for an Academy Award. It is also the most recent wide release film directed by De Palma. The Black Dahlia opened at #2 with $10 million and earned a disappointing $22.5 million overall.
Everyone’s Hero - September 15, 2006
This CGI family-friendly baseball film from 20th Century Fox features the voice of Jake T. Austen as a kid named Yankee Irving, who travels to the 1932 World Series to return the stolen bat of Babe Ruth. William H. Macy, Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Rob Reiner and others also provide voices talent. Reviews were modest and Everyone’s Hero came in at #3 with $6 million from 2,896 theaters. It earned a total of $14.5 million.
The Last Kiss - September 15, 2006
Coming off his 2004 low-budget breakout hit Garden State, Zach Braff stars (under the direction of Tony Goldwyn) as a man whose doubts about his relationship with pregnant girlfriend Jacinda Barrett are made even more acute when he meets Rachel Bilson. Reviews for The Last Kiss were not as strong as for Garden State, and The Last Kiss would ultimately earn less than half of its gross (falling short of its own budget). The Last Kiss opened at #5 with $4.6 million from 1,357 theaters.
15 years ago
Notably, the films opening this weekend were released just three days after the hijacking attacks that occurred on Tuesday, September 11th. The trauma experienced by the country that week led to an uneasy choice of staying home to mourn or watch the news, or head to the theaters for a temporary distraction. It’s not easy to quantify the effect on the box office that weekend compared to previous years, given variances in movies released: in 2000 the top two films earned less than in 2001, but 1999 had the $18 million opening of Stigmata and continued strength of The Sixth Sense. 2001’s releases showed similar levels of per-theater-average activity as surrounding weeks. The most obvious effect on films was seen in content and advertising: films with scenes depicting airplanes or terrorism - such as Big Trouble, View From the Top, and Collateral Damage - delayed their release dates, and images of the World Trade Center towers were removed from the trailer for Spider-Man and other films. The films depicting the 9/11 events, United 93 and World Trade Center, were both released five years later.
Hardball - September 14, 2001
Keanu Reeves stars as the coach of an inner city kids' baseball team just to pay off a debt, but eventually comes to care for them. Diane Lane co-stars as the kids' teacher and his romantic interest. Reviews were mixed, but Hardball debuted ahead of last week’s The Musketeer and Two Can Play at That Game. Hardball opened at #1 with $9.3 million from 2,137 theaters and eventually grossed $40 million.
The Glass House - September 14, 2001
Leelee Sobieski and Trevor Morgan star in this thriller as orphaned teens who come under the care of a dangerous couple played by Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgard. Reviews were poor, though audiences did give it a look, putting The Glass House at #2 with $5.7 million from 1,591 theaters. Its $18.1 million gross turned out to be little more than half of its production budget.
20 years ago
Maximum Risk - September 13, 1996
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in this action piece as a cop who investigates the death of his previously-unknown twin brother. Natasha Henstridge co-stars, coming off of her success with Species in 1995. Hong Kong director Ringo Lam’s film leaned more heavily on chase sequences than Van Damme’s typical one-on-one martial arts. The result was less successful than his other early 1990s films, but still a #1 opener. Maximum Risk brought in $5.6 million from 2,358 theaters and a maximum gross of $14.5 million.
Fly Away Home - September 13, 1996
This family-friendly drama was a sort of Free Willy for geese; Jeff Daniels stars as a man prompted by his 13-year-old daughter (Anna Paquin) to help some geese migrate from Canada to North Carolina. Based on the real instance of Bill Lishman, Daniels uses an ultralight aircraft to lead the geese in flight. Critics and audiences responded to the great cinematography by Caleb Deschanel, who later earned an Oscar nomination for it. Paquin, who had won an Oscar for The Piano a few years earlier, earned multiple Young Artist Award nominations for this role. Fly Away Home had the best average income for the weekend’s films, opening at #2 with $4.7 million from 1,320 sites. It eventually grossed $25.1 million compared to a modest budget.
The Rich Man’s Wife - September 13, 1996
Halle Berry stars in this thriller about jealousy and murder, with Christopher McDonald, Peter Greene, and Clive Owen. Reviews were weak and with a moderate distribution, The Rich Man’s Wife opened at #5 with $3.1 million from 1,006 theaters, and went on to gross $8.5 million.
Feeling Minnesota - September 13, 1996
Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz star in this dramedy about a twisty plot to steal from a strip club owner played by Delroy Lindo, and Diaz’s husband played by Vincent D’Onofrio. With only 869 theaters and modest audience support, Feeling Minnesota took in $1.5 million for the #12 spot and went on to earn $3.1 million.
25 years ago
Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare - September 13, 1991
New Line’s first 3-D release, this slasher was the sixth entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise that began in 1984. Robert Englund returns as Freddy Krueger, who hunts a new batch of teenagers in their dreams. Breckin Meyer is one of them, in his second career role. Tom Arnold, Roseanne Barr, Johnny Depp, and Alice Cooper appear briefly. The film title completely spoils the ending, as an already undead Krueger is declared newly dead, but the series thrived with this release. Freddy’s Dead opened at #1 with $12.9 million from 1,862 theaters, the best opening for the series to date. Its $34.8 million gross was lower than parts 3 and 4, but was enough to spawn Wes Craven’s New Nightmare in 1994 and two later entries.
30 years ago
Avenging Force - September 12, 1986
American Ninja’s Michael Dudikoff stars in this sequel to the Chuck Norris 1985 action flick Invasion U.S.A. Dudikoff portrays the Matt Hunter character who uses his martial arts skills to save his own sister and a politician from an organization called the Pentangle. While Chuck Norris’s Invasion U.S.A. opened at #1 and earned $17 million, Dudikoff’s entry failed to draw an audience: it opened at #10 with $1.1 million from 500 theaters and finished with $4.6 million.
Audiences instead went to see the fall and summer juggernauts that were still dominating the box office: of the top 9, the most recent film was in its 5th week. Stand By Me led at #1 in its 6th week still at just over 800 theaters, while Top Gun held the #2 spot in its 18th week at 1,327 theaters; both brought in $3.0 million this weekend. The Fly, The Karate Kid Part II, and Aliens rounded out the top 5.
In limited release this weekend: The sequel to 1984’s summer sex romp, Hardbodies 2 made 1/100th of the first’s gross; Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft starred in ’Night, Mother.
Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!