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15 YEARS AGO

Queen of the Damned - February 22, 2002
Many years before Stephenie Meyer introduced the Twilight series, Anne Rice was the queen of the vampire novel.  1988’s Queen of the Damned was the third entry in her Vampire Chronicles series which began in 1976 with Interview with the Vampire.  Tom Cruise, of course, starred the successful film adaptation in 1994.  In this adaptation, Stuart Townsend portrays the vampire Lestat, who becomes a high profile heavy metal band singer. Real life R&B singer Aaliyah costars as the first vampire, Akasha, who mates with Lestat and fights other vampires with him.  Aaliyah had died tragically in a plane crash in August 2001, which certainly played a factor in audience interest for this release.  Reviews were not good, but Queen of the Damned opened at #1 with $14.7 million from 2,511 theaters, finishing with a meager $30.3 million.

Dragonfly - February 22, 2002
Director Tom Shadyac is mostly known for comedy work with Jim Carrey and Eddie Murphy, but here he helms a bittersweet fantasy/thriller.  Kevin Costner plays a doctor and widower who keeps seeing signs that his deceased wife is trying to contact him from beyond.  Kathy Bates, Ron Rifkin, and Linda Hunt play supporting roles.  Dragonfly flopped with critics and audiences, opening at #3 behind last week’s John Q. with $10.2 million, and finishing with $30.3 million (but on a budget nearly twice that of Queen of the Damned’s).

20 YEARS AGO

The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition - February 21, 1997
The digital ink was barely dry on the Special Edition of Star Wars (#2 with $11 million in its fourth week of release) when this edit of Episode V was released.  In addition to sparkling special effects, audiences got a better view of the creatures and locations on Hoth and Bespin.  Despite the fact that this is the superior film in the original trilogy, this edit of Empire took in a third less at the box office than the Star Wars edit did at the end of January: $21.9 million from 2,111 theaters, easily taking the February opening weekend record set by Dante’s Peak (itself at #4 this weekend).   The Empire Strikes Back Special Edition held #1 for its second weekend, and was followed by the Return of the Jedi Special Edition in mid March before adding $67 million to Episode V’s lifetime total of $290 million in the U.S.

Rosewood - February 21, 1997
Director John Singleton’s fourth project is a fictionalized telling of the real destruction of a Florida town in 1923.  Ving Rhames stars as as an Army veteran looking to settle in the black town of Rosewood, which erupts into violence when a white woman makes a false accusation triggering a lynch mob.  Don Cheadle, Jon Voight, Esther Rolle, Robert Patrick, and Michael Rooker co-star.  Screenwriter Gregory Poirier received an honorary award from the Writers Guild of America, and reviews of Singleton’s approach were very strong.  Debuting at only 991 theaters though, Rosewood ranked at #8 at the box office with #3.1 million, toward a final tally of $13.1 million.

Lost Highway - February 21, 1997
Debuting at 12 theaters this weekend and only expanding to a few hundred during its release, David Lynch’s noir wasn’t destined to be a box office draw, but has since become one of his notable works.  Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette play a married couple stalked by a creepy stranger (Robert Blake) until she is murdered, and he is convicted.  Pullman’s character is later released and runs into trouble with a gangster (Robert Loggia) and a second go around with Arquette.  As with other David Lynch films, there are plenty of surreal elements in the storytelling here.  In another surreal real world twist, Blake was arrested for the murder of his wife in 2001 but was acquitted at trial; Lost Highway remains his last film appearance.

Also in limited release this weekend the heist drama Blood and Wine starred Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, Michael Caine, and Jennifer Lopez.

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