Marquee History
January 2017
By Max Braden
January 30, 2017
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Looking back at January releases, this edition includes Star Wars controversy, Rebecca De Mornay’s devious 1992 takeover of the box office, and the 30th anniversary of Woody Allen's Radio Days.
Here are the movies that premiered on theater marquees this week...
10 YEARS AGO
January 5, 2007
As with most early January weekends, the top movies were carryovers from December: Night at the Museum held #1 with $23.7 million, followed by The Pursuit of Happyness with $12.8 million, and Children of Men expanding wide with $10.1 million. Hilary Swank’s teacher drama Freedom Writers led the new openers at #4 with $9.4 million from 1,360 theaters for an average that beat Night at the Museum. The animated animated fairytale from Lionsgate, Happily N’Ever After, opened at #6 with $6.6 million, and Cedric the Entertainer’s spy comedy Code Name: Cleaner had a weak opening at #12 with $4.2 million.
January 12, 2007
Back in 2001, Save the Last Dance set the January opening weekend record with $23 million and set off a wave of modern teen dance-dramas. Stomp the Yard stars Columbus Short, Meagan Good, and Chris Brown, and features fraternity stepping at a historically black college. Stomp the Yard took the #1 spot for Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, earning $21.8 million ($25.8 million 4-day) from 2,051 theaters. It held #1 in its second weekend and grossed a total of $61 million (compared to Step Up’s $65 million in 2006 and Save the Last Dance’s $91 million in 2001). Also opening this weekend: the Nick Cassavetes' crime drama Alpha Dog (with early roles for Justin Timberlake and Olivia Wilde) at #6 with $6.4 million, and crocodile horror film Primeval at #8 with $6 million.
Also making news this weekend was the absence of a Golden Globes ceremony due to the Writers Guild of America strike, which was ongoing through mid-February.
January 19, 2007
For the third January weekend, Stomp the Yard held the #1 spot in close competition against Night at the Museum, each taking in $12 million. Dreamgirls had expanded into wide release the previous weekend and rose to #3 this weekend with $8 million. The only new wide release was the poorly reviewed remake of The Hitcher, starring Sean Bean and Sophia Bush, which opened at #4 with $7.8 million from 2,831 theaters.
January 26, 2007
Spoof comedy writers Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer had a box office success with Scary Movie in 2000 and followed that with the less impressive Date Movie in 2006. Their second directorial entry, Epic Movie, features Jemima Mays in a send up of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Chronicles of Narnia, and others. Epic Movie was #1 this weekend with $18.6 million from 2,801 theaters, eventually earning $39.7 million. Coming in at #2 this weekend with $14.6 million, Smokin’ Aces starred an ensemble of hitmen including Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys, Taraji P. Henson, Chris Pine, Jason Bateman, and Ben Affleck, all out to kill Jeremy Piven’s casino owner character. The Jennifer Garner/Timothy Olyphant romantic comedy Catch and Release opened at #5 with $7.5 million, and the teen werewolf horror/romance Blood and Chocolate opened in moderate release at #16 with $2.0 million.
15 YEARS AGO
January 4, 2002
December’s releases dominated the box office this weekend, as Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring held #1 with $23 million and A Beautiful Mind expanded into second place with $16.5 million. The only new wide release was Imposter a sci-fi thriller based on a Philip K. Dick story starring Gary Sinise, which opened way down at #13 with $3 million from 1,870 theaters.
January 11, 2002
The only new wide release this weekend was the southern California teen comedy Orange County, from writer Mike White and director Jake Kasdan, starring Colin Hanks and Jack Black. Orange County came in at #3 behind Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and A Beautiful Mind, with $15 million from 2,317 theaters. Opening at just 21 theaters was Brotherhood of the Wolf. Samuel Le Bihan and Marc Dacascos star along with Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci in this thriller set in 18th century France about a seemingly supernatural beast terrorizing the country. Though it expanded to little more than 400 theaters and only grossed $11.2 million, this was an impressive result for a French-language film. Excellent cinematography and Dacascos’s martial arts moves make this film a cut above others in the historical action genre.
January 18, 2002
While Oscar-candidate Black Hawk Down expanded into wide release and handily took the #1 box office spot with $28.6 million ($33.6 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. weekend), the only new opener in wide release was Cuba Gooding Jr.’s family-friendly comedy Snow Dogs, which took the #2 spot with $17.8 million ($23.7 million four-day) from 2,302 theaters. Snow Dogs went on to earn a total of $81.1 million, surpassing the $77 million that Free Willy grossed in 1993, and was later only barely surpassed by Eight Below in 2006. As of 2017, Snow Dogs is still the best performing film with Cuba Gooding Jr. as lead actor (Jerry Maguire took in $153 million and gave him his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor).
January 25, 2002
A group of moderate performers opened this weekend: Mandy Moore’s romance A Walk to Remember opened at #3 behind Black Hawk Down and Snow Dogs, with $12.1 million from 2,411 theaters. This was the second film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, slightly underperforming 1999’s Message in a Bottle. Jim Caviezel and Guy Pearce starred in the swashbuckling adaptation of The Count of Monte Cristo at #5 with $11.3 million. Close behind was Richard Gere’s supernatural thriller The Mothman Prophecies at #6 with $11.2 million. Rounding out the new openers was writer/director Steve Oedekerk’s spoof Kung Pow! Enter the Fist at #9 with $7 million.
20 YEARS AGO
January 3, 1997
No new opening films this weekend; Michael held #1 with $12.1 million, followed by Jerry Maguire in its fourth week and Scream in its third week.
January 10, 1997
The Relic became the year’s first new #1 film at the box office. Penelope Ann Miller and Tom Sizemore star in this museum thriller, which earned $9 million from 2,065 theaters and went on to gross $33.9 million. Coming in at #6 with $5.7 million was Jackie Chan’s First Strike (aka Police Story 4). First Strike didn’t strike big at the U.S. box office, grossing less than half of 1996’s Rumble in the Bronx. Turbulence, an airplane thriller starring Ray Liotta and Lauren Holly, opened at #8 with $4.4 million.
January 17, 1997
Two new openers topped the box office this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend: Chris Farley’s comedy Beverly Hills Ninja opened at #1 with $12.2 million over four days from 2,112 theaters and became his third success in a row with a $31.4 million gross. Sadly, Farley died the following December at age 33. Eddie Murphy’s non-Beverly-Hills cop comedy Metro opened at #2 with $11.4 million and underperformed even Beverly Hills Cop III with a $32 million gross.
January 24, 1997
Reuniting the cast of A Fish Called Wanda didn’t help Fierce Creatures this weekend; the comedy starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin only earned $3.7 million from 1,593 theaters to land at #8. Steve Guttenberg’s former stardom was no help either for Zeus and Roxanne, a family-friendly adventure featuring a dog and a dolphin, which opened at #10 with $2.7 million.
January 31, 1997
The big story this weekend was the re-release of 1977's Star Wars as a Special Edition, with modern special effects, previously deleted scenes featuring Jabba and Biggs, and the notorious George Lucas revision of the cantina sequence now showing Greedo (mis)firing before Han Solo kills him. I was among the many in long lines that boosted the Star Wars Special Edition to a record January opening weekend tally of $35.9 million, a record it held until 2008's Cloverfield $40 million opening. The Special Edition grossed $138 million in 1997, bringing Episode IV's lifetime gross to over $460 million. Leading true new releases this weekend, Tupac Shakur and Tim Roth starred in Gridlock'd at #10 with $2.6 million, Rodney Dangerfield's Meet Wally Sparks was at #13 with $2.1 million, and Charlie Sheen's White House thriller Shadow Conspiracy was down at $16 with $1.3 million.
25 YEARS AGO
January 3, 1992
No new openers this weekend; December’s Hook held #1 with $11.4 million, followed by Father of the Bride with $9 million, and Beauty and the Beast at $8.8 million.
January 10, 1992
Audiences must have been in the mood for a bad babysitter in 1992, because The Hand That Rocks the Cradle became an instant and long-legged hit. The thriller stars Rebecca De Mornay as a widow who seeks revenge on Annabella Sciorra’s character by secretly undermining her family from within as a nanny - even going so far as to breastfeed a newborn that isn’t hers. The film scored an impressive per-theater-average by taking in $7.6 million from just 766 theaters. Since 1992, only one other film has opened at #1 in fewer theaters (the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus concert in 2008). The Hand that Rocks the Cradle expanded to another 900 theaters the following weekend and was #1 for its first four consecutive weekends. It ultimately grossed a total of $88 million, the 12th best box office performance of the year. Also opening this weekend: Christian Slater’s cop comedy Kuffs earned $5.6 million from 1,411 theaters.
January 17, 1992
While The Hand that Rocks the Cradle held on to #1 with $11.8 million over this Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Juice scored a better per-theater-average at #2 with $8 million from 1,089 theaters. The crime drama stars Omar Epps and Tupac Shakur and received solid reviews from critics. At #4 behind Hook was Freejack, a futuristic thriller starring Emilio Estevez facing off against a villain played by...Mick Jagger. Jagger had appeared in so few roles (leads in 1970 and 1987) that audiences may have thought this was stunt casting, but he took it seriously and at least he didn’t earn a Razzie Award nomination for his performance. Still, Freejack brought in a modest $6.7 million and didn’t earn much repeat business.
January 24, 1992
Sean Young’s sensual thriller Love Crimes debuted at 669 theaters (compared to the 1,700+ for the widest playing titles) and took in $1.1 million for the #12 spot. Young later received a Razzie nomination for her performance. Meanwhile, audiences instead chose to keep The Hand that Rocks the Cradle at #1 with $8 million, followed by Fried Green Tomatoes with $5.2 million (from just 669 theaters), and Father of the Bride with $3.7 million.
January 31, 1992
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle held the top spot at the box office for the fourth consecutive weekend with $8.1 million. Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith shared embraces and intrigue in the WWII drama Shining Through opened at #3 with $6.4 million
30 YEARS AGO
January 2, 1987
The only significant new opener this weekend was Wisdom, starring Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore as bank robbers. Wisdom snagged less than $2 million from 788 theaters and landed at #11. Leading the box office were holdovers The Golden Child with $6.6 million, Star Trek IV with $6.1 million, and Crocodile Dundee still earning $4.6 million after four months in theaters.
January 9, 1987
The Golden Child, Star Trek IV, and Crocodile Dundee again held the top three spots at the box office. This weekend’s new entry was Assassination, starring Charles Bronson as a Secret Service agent along with his co-star and off-screen wife Jill Ireland. Assassination opened at #6 with $2.7 million from 1,000 theaters (compared to 1,876 for Star Trek IV).
January 16, 1987
The first film to open at #1 this year was Critical Condition, an imposter doctor comedy starring Richard Pryor. Critical Condition earned $5.7 million from 1,343 theaters and grossed a total of $20.2 million, a small take compared to his early 1980s peak. Opening at #7 and #8 were The Bedroom Window and Wanted: Dead or Alive with $2.9 million each.
January 23, 1987
No new wide releases this weekend; Critical Condition held on to #1 with $3.3 million, just ahead of Platoon, which had risen in the charts each week this month despite playing at just over 200 theaters after six weeks of release.
January 30, 1987
Audiences continued to show strong interest in Platoon, which moved up to #1 with $8.3 million from just 590 theaters. The odd-couple road trip comedy Outrageous Fortune, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long, opened at #2 with $6.4 million from 1,081 theaters and stayed in the top 3 at the box office through February and March, eventually earning over $52 million. A year ago on the same weekend, Midler’s Down and Out in Beverly Hills opened at $5.7 million and earned $62 million in total. At #7 this weekend was the Indiana-Jones-esque adventure Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (sequel to 1985’s King Solomon’s Mines), starring Richard Chamberlain, Sharon Stone, James Earl Jones, and Henry Silva. It took in $1.9 million - half of its eventual $3.7 million total, and a fraction of the $15 million total for King Solomon’s Mines. Woody Allen’s nostalgic comedy Radio Days (Seth Green’s first starring role) opened at #10 with $1.5 million from 128 theaters, but it managed to bring in $14.7 million over its run at fewer than 500 sites. It also later earned Oscar nominations for Best Original Screenplay, and Best Art Direction. Next to Zelig, Radio Days is one of my favorites from Woody Allen - go rent it if you’ve never seen this one.