Box Office - Decade at a Glance: September - December 2002
By Michael Lynderey
August 26, 2009
December 2002 also had room for Nick Cannon's high school epic Drumline, a mild hit ($55 million), and the Wild Thornberrys movie, yet another animated series-to-film adaptation (it did OK for itself with $40 million). Rob Schneider's latest star vehicle, the notorious the Hot Chick, wasn't a complete wipeout, taking in $35 million (and to its credit, it introduced us to Rachel McAdams).
Now that I think about it, the month really only had two mega-losers. One was the tenth film in the Star Trek franchise, Star Trek: Nemesis. While I can't account for the decision to reboot the James Bond films, I certainly have no qualms with the reasoning behind the re-charging of this particular series. At an $18 million opening and $43 million total, Nemesis was the single lowest grossing Star Trek film, ever, and came in $27 million under the total of the last entry, 1998's Insurrection. Clearly, the Patrick Stewart-led crew of the Enterprise had passed their expiry date. The second mega-bomb is one that now seems to have disappointed even as a disappointment: Pinocchio, Roberto Benigni's follow-up to his surprise success Life is Beautiful (1998), was deemed a disaster upon release and practically chased off the screens with a pitchfork (it grossed $3 million). But sadly, it really hasn't taken on the air of a notorious, legendary flop, akin to Battlefield Earth or Pluto Nash. Some might consider that a good thing, but I sure don't. If you gotta fail, at least fail memorably.
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