New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

15 years ago

Legally Blonde - July 13, 2001
Reese Witherspoon had her first big hit with this comedy in which she plays a not-as-dim-as-you-expected sorority girl who becomes a lawyer. Luke Wilson, Jennifer Coolidge, and Selma Blair co-star. Great reviews and audience response helped Legally Blonde grab the #1 spot with $20.3 million from 2,620 theaters. A $96 million gross plus Golden Globe nominations for the comedy and Witherspoon led to a sequel in 2003 and a stage musical in 2007.

The Score - July 13, 2001
Robert DeNiro, Edward Norton, and Marlon Brando star in this serious double-cross heist film from traditionally-comedic director Frank Oz. Reviews were good, though this film doesn’t rate among classics like The Godfather, Heat, and Ronin. The Score opened at #2 with $19 million and earned a solid $71 million domestically.

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within - July 13, 2001
This CGI thriller based on the many-sequeled Nintendo/Playstation video game series featured character Aki Ross and some remarkable photorealistic animation, which required a hefty budget of $137 million. The film opened at #4 with $11.4 million and only made $85 million worldwide, making it a financial failure despite decent critical and audience reviews. To date, the video game franchise continues with the 15th entry set for 2016 release along with an expected fall theatrical release of the related film Kingsglaive.

Jurassic Park III - July 20, 2001
Four years after The Lost World, Sam Neill and Laura Dern return with William H. Macy and Tea Leoni as a couple searching for their son on the abandoned island, where they face off against a Spinosaurus and flying Pteranodons. The Joe Johnston-directed film received weaker reviews than Spielberg’s first two entries, and though Jurassic Park III was a top ten box office hit for the year, it’s the lowest-performing entry in the series. Jurassic Park II opened at #1 with $50 million from 3,434 theaters and earned $181 million domestically as part of a $386 million worldwide total.

America’s Sweethearts - July 20, 2001
This comedy from director Joe Roth stars Billy Crystal as a publicist trying to promote an estranged power-couple played by Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack. Julia Roberts plays the overlooked sister of Zeta-Jones’s character. For Crystal, this was a second recent box office hit following Analyze This and he would be a featured voice in Monsters, Inc. later in the year. America’s Sweethearts opened at #2 with $30.1 million and earned a total of $93 million.

Also in limited release: Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn in Made, John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Scarlett Johansson in Ghost World, and Omar Epps in Brother.


20 years ago

Courage Under Fire - July 12, 1996
Denzel Washington stars in this military drama retelling the complicated case of a Medal of Honor candidate played by Meg Ryan. Matt Damon has a supporting role for which he lost a dramatic amount of weight to portray a heroin-addicted veteran. With Independence Day holding #1 in its second weekend, and Phenomenon moving back up to #2, Courage Under Fire took the #3 spot from The Nutty Professor with $12.5 million and grossed $59 million.

Harriet the Spy - July 12, 1996
The Adventures of Pete & Pete co-star Michelle Trachtenberg, then 10-years-old, had her first lead film role as the young writer and snoop, based on the 1964 children’s novel. Reviews were mixed but Trachtenberg and Vanessa Lee Chester won Young Artist Awards for their roles, and co-star Rosie O’Donnell won the year’s Kids’ Choice Awards for Favorite Movie Actress. Harriet opened at #5 with $6.6 million and managed to earn $26.5 million overall.

The Frighteners - July 19, 1996
This R-rated horror comedy from director Peter Jackson stars Michael J. Fox as a widower who can see ghosts and uses them in a Ghostbusters-like con to make money from "haunted" customers, but then runs into trouble with the Grim Reaper killing people. Notable for its large amount of special effects, The Frighteners led a batch of new films that couldn’t unseat the holdovers, and opened at #5 with $5.5 million from 1,669 theaters. It brought in a gross of $16.7 million domestically.

Fled - July 19, 1996
Stephen Baldwin and Laurence Fishburne star as escaped prison inmates who are stuck shackled together and are pursued by federal agents and local detective Will Patton. Fled opened at #6 with $5.4 million and took in $17.1 million.





Multiplicity - July 19, 1996
This comedy from director Harold Ramis stars Michael Keaton who creates clones of himself as a way to alleviate his workload and enjoy life with his wife, played by Andie MacDowell. The three clones display various personality differences and eventually cause problems. Multiplicity opened at #7 with $5 million and earned $21 million against a significantly larger budget.

Kazaam - July 19, 1996
Shaq stars as a genie in contemporary Brooklyn who helps out a kid played by Francis Capra. Remember when Shaq released his own rap album? He contributes to this movie’s soundtrack as well. If it didn’t hurt, it certainly didn’t help; Kazaam opened at #8 with $5 million and earned $18.9 million. Fortunately, Shaq had another career to fall back on: The same summer, he won a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Atlanta and accepted a $121 million contract to play for the Lakers.

Trainspotting - July 19, 1996
Though this film only opened at 19 theaters and peaked at fewer than 400, Trainspotting is significant for bringing director Danny Boyle and Scottish actor Ewan McGregor to the attention of American audiences. Both had worked together on Shallow Grave the year before, but Trainspotting was nominated for an Oscar for writing - by John Hodge, who won the BAFTA award. The MTV Awards nominated McGregor for Best Breakthrough Performance in his role as Mark Renton, a heroin addict trying to quit amidst friends who use and suffer prison or HIV. Trainspotting earned $16.4 million in the U.S., and Boyle and McGregor worked together again for A Life Less Ordinary in 1997.

Continued:       1       2       3       4