The first big event movie of the summer opened on May 25th in the form of the series-capping Back to the Future Part III. Setting an example for the Wachowski brothers' Matrix and Gore Verbinski's Pirates trilogies, Robert Zemeckis filmed the second and third chapters in the McFly saga concurrently with a $40 million price tag for each. Both Parts II and III had the tall-to-live-up-to-legacy of the first film's $197.9 million haul in 1985. When it's adjusted for inflation since 1985, the original Back to the Future earned a thunderous $400.3 million. Universal had just released Part II in November to $27.8 million ($50 million adjusted to 1989 dollars) and an end result of $118.5 million ($213.2 million adjusted to 1989 dollars). Coupled with unflattering critical response, Universal's expectations have to have been tempered for this final chapter.

Let's take a hypothetical nostalgia trip: If Box Office Prophets had been around in those days, you would have undoubtedly been treated to a Monday Morning Quarterback discussion packed with comments like "I bet Universal wishes they could go back in time and make Part II not suck," or "For me, Part II just doesn't McFly," or "For fans of the original film, with this sequel, the filmmakers put the F-U in Future." And now back to the analysis.

Back to the Future Part III ushered out the month of May with a top spot-earning debut of $23.7 million ($40.3 million adjusted) over the four-day holiday weekend ($19.1 million was earned if you exclude Memorial Day). I would be amazed if Universal didn't think that the second installment's lackluster performance and bad reviews/poor audience reception left money on the table for the superior Part III. If you don't compare it to its predecessors, the film is a surefire success but unfortunately, you can't justify taking them out of the equation. To continue to rain on this parade, the fact that it came up more than $4 million shy of Part II even with an extra day of business furthers supports the notion that people were turned off by the convoluted, unsentimental plot of Part II.

Bird on a Wire was still perched near the top of the chart at number two with $12.8 million ($21.8 million adjusted) for the weekend after a slide of 17%. While the extra day of business didn't seem to help Mel and Goldie, our tired and true prostitute with a heart of gold increased an impressive 31%. Pretty Woman not only remained in third place with its $8.2 million ($14 million adjusted) take, it eclipsed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (who finally fell from the top five after 59 days) to be the top-grossing film of 1990. With a slate of summer movies waiting in the wings, Julia Roberts might have to relish this victory for a bit as it is likely fleeting. With Pretty Woman lapping it, Cadillac Man had to settle for the fourth spot with $6.5 million ($11.1 million adjusted).

The final top five spot of the month goes to Fire Birds, starring the box office's most unpredictable star - Nicolas Cage. Over this holiday weekend, the cookie cutter action film with Cage, Tommy Lee Jones, Sean Young and a bunch of Apache helicopters made $6.4 million ($10.9 million adjusted). In 1990, Cage was still five years away from drinking himself to Oscar gold and was just not much of a box office factor, unlike today, where he is just a box office conundrum. This is especially true when you consider that despite being a film in the same genre that would be fruitful for Cage post-Oscar, like The Rock, Con Air and Face/Off, the audience-repelling Fire Birds opened comparably to recent Nic Cage action vehicles (2008's Bangkok Dangerous - $7.8 million and 2007's Next - $7.1 milion). Ultimately, Fire Birds crashed and burned with a final tally of $14.8 million ($25.2 million adjusted).

So, after the skeletal cinematic offerings in the first two weeks of May, the studio finally stretched their legs before the summer marathon with a couple releases with notable stars and the close of a beloved franchise. Up next, Hindsight will forge ahead into warmer months with, hopefully, more films that can set the box office on fire.

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Source for 1990 box office totals: Variety.

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