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20 years ago

The Cable Guy - June 14, 1996
Jim Carrey’s style of comedy has certainly been loud and in your face, but up to this point he had mostly played fun characters like Ace Ventura. His role in this dark comedy was a stalkerish cable television installer who takes it personally when Matthew Broderick’s character doesn’t want to be his friend. One of the more memorable sequences takes place at Medieval Times, where Chip takes takes the combat to a dangerous level. Leslie Mann co-stars as Broderick’s girlfriend. This film was Ben Stiller’s second time as director, and the first producing role for Judd Apatow. The Cable Guy opened at #1 with $19.8 million from 2,657 theaters and went on to gross $60 million domestically, Carrey’s lowest result of his first six lead roles since 1994.

In limited release this weekend, the drama Stealing Beauty starred Liv Tyler, Joseph Fiennes, and Jeremy Irons, and saw a theatrical run worth $4.7 million.

25 years ago

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves - June 14, 1991
Less than three months earlier, Kevin Costner had just collected Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for Dances With Wolves, which was still in the box office top 15 this weekend and crossing a total of $170 million. With Robin Hood, Costner was about to score the second highest grossing film of his career. Costner was certainly the draw at the start of its theatrical run, especially for the romance with Maid Marian, played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. But it was soon clear that the standout performance was from Alan Rickman as the entertainingly despicable and grousing Sheriff of Nottingham. Rickman wasn’t nominated for an Oscar but did win the BAFTA for Best Actor.

The one Oscar nomination for the film went to Michael Kamen, Bryan Adams, and Robert John Lange for the song “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You,” which also won a Grammy. Kamen’s horn-driven musical score is also still immediately identifiable today. Morgan Freeman has some fun dialogue as Robin Hood’s “moorish” companion, Azeem, and Sean Connery surprised audiences with a cameo after the story’s climax. On the other end of the scale though, Costner and Christian Slater received Razzie Award nominations, with Costner winning Worst Actor. Nonetheless, audiences clearly enjoyed the film more than critics. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves opened at #1 with $25.6 million from 2,369 theaters, which was the third best June opening to that time and more than the next four films this weekend combined. It went on to gross $165 million domestically, the second best of the year behind Terminator 2.

In limited release this weekend, the martial arts sequel Kickboxer 2 opened at 184 theaters with Sasha Mitchell replacing Jean-Claude Van Damme, and went on to make $1.2 million.

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