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25 years ago - August 17, 1990

The Exorcist III
Released 13 years after 1977’s box office failure Exorcist II, The Exorcist III ignores the sequel and acts as its own sequel to the 1971 hit horror thriller, with George C. Scott in the lead role. Reviews were mixed, but the movie opened at the #1 spot ahead of holdovers Ghost and Flatliners with $9.3 million. It opened with a larger box office than Exorcist II, thanks to a wider release and ticket prices, but fell short of the previous movie’s gross with $26 million overall. It would be another 14 years before the next movie in the series, Exorcist: The Beginning, was released.

My Blue Heaven
Steve Martin plays a mobster witness in this buddy comedy with Rick Moranis. Moranis had a huge hit with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids the year before, and both had worked together on Parenthood in 1989. Incidentally, My Blue Heaven was based on the life of Henry Hill, who was given a more biopic treatment by Martin Scorsese with Goodfellas, released a month after this movie; My Blue Heaven’s screenwriter, Nora Ephron, was the wife of Nicholas Pileggi, who wrote the book upon which Goodfellas was based. My Blue Heaven opened at #4 with $6.2 million at 1,859 theaters, the widest release of the new movies. It eventually grossed $23 million.

Taking Care of Business
Jim Belushi stars as an identity thief in this comedy, with Charles Grodin. A movie with a similar plot, Opportunity Knocks starring Dana Carvey, bombed in the spring of 1990. Taking Care of Business received negative reviews and opened at #7 with $3.6 million, but eventually managed to gross $20 million.

Wild at Heart
Director David Lynch was famous again in 1990 after the first season of Twin Peaks had aired in the spring. Lynch wrote the crime thriller Wild at Heart based on the 1989 novel by Barry Gifford. The movie won the Palme d’Or at Cannes at the beginning of the summer, but reviews were mixed for its theatrical release. Wild at Heart opened at #10 with $2.9 million from 532 theaters, and managed to gross $14 million while staying in moderate release. Diane Ladd later earned an Oscar nomination, and cinematographer Frederick Elmes won an Independent Spirit award.

30 years ago - August 16, 1985

Volunteers
One week after he starred in the release of Summer Rental, John Candy costarred with Tom Hanks in this comedy adventure about two college roommates who join the Peace Corps. Hanks and Candy had also worked together in Splash the previous year. Volunteers opened at #2 behind Back the the Future, earning $5.1 million at 1,560 theaters and grossed $19 million. Summer Rental dropped to the #6 position in its second week but eventually outgrossed Volunteers with $24 million.

Return of the Living Dead
This dark horror comedy was written and directed by Dan O’Bannon, who worked with the original author of the novel that had inspired George Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead. Return of the Living Dead opened at #4 with $4.4 million. Both critics and audiences were positive about the movie, which eventually grossed $14 million domestically. Its commercial success lead to sequels in 1988 and 1993, but they failed to repeat the box office numbers of the first.

Year of the Dragon
Mickey Rourke stars in this crime thriller based on the novel by Robert Daley, from director Michael Cimino and writer Oliver Stone. Cimino’s last project was the epic bomb Heaven’s Gate (in which Rourke had also played a small role). Year of the Dragon opened with $4 million at 982 theaters (a $4,168 per-site-average, the best of the new movies) for the weekend, coming in at #5. It pulled in $18 million domestically. Critics responded fairly well. The movie was nominated for Worst Picture, Director, and Actress (Ariane Koizumi) at the Razzie Awards but also nominated for a Cesar Award in France.

The Bride
Coming off of the peak success of The Police, Sting had also released his first solo album this summer. He’d appeared in supporting movie roles before, but this was one of his first leads. He stars as Frankenstein, trying to create a bride (Jennifer Beals, who became famous in 1983 with Flashdance) for his monster. Reviews were poor. Stick to your music career, Sting! Beals was nominated for a Razzie Award. The Bride opened with $1.7 million at 955 theaters, eventually grossing $3.5 million.

American Flyers
Kevin Costner stars in this bicycle racing movie from screenwriter Steve Tesich, who had won the 1979 Best Original Screenplay Oscar for the bicycle racing movie Breaking Away. American Flyers opened in five theaters with a $15,669 per-site-average and managed to gross $1.4 million without any expansion.

Come back next week for another installment of Marquee History!

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