Mid-spring seems to be a good time to release both smaller films and potential blockbusters and Americanized adaptions of Nick Hornby novels, and cult films starring John Cusack and Americanized adaptions of Nick Hornby novels that are cult films starring John Cusack.
As it is difficult for me to find the time during the workweek to finish this column, I'm going to move the release date to Sunday, at least until I get caught up and I go back to covering one week at a time.
One Year Ago--March 29, 2019:
New Wide Releases:
Dumbo--1/$46 million/$114.8 million/23/47%/51--Like his version of Alice in Wonderland 9 years earlier, and unlike most of Disney's other live action(ish) versions of its classic animated films, Tim Burton's Dumbo is less a remake of the studio's 1941 feature than a re-imagining, eliminating the talking animals, reducing a now-mute Timothy the Mouse, the 1941 film's co-lead, to essentially a cameo, and adding in a lot of human characters, including Colin Farrell's one-armed stunt rider, two adorable moppets who replace Timothy as Dumbo's friends, and Michael Keaton as <strike>Walt Disney</strike> a famed amusement park owner who decides that Dumbo is going to be his main attraction. Danny DeVito appeared as the circus's owner, Eva Green played a trapeze artist who takes a liking to the elephant, and Alan Arkin played a skeptical investor. While the studio's summer remakes did extremely well, the performance of Dumbo might well serve as a warning that these types of films might not be licenses to print money once Disney moves past their most popular titles.
Director: Tim Burton
Unplanned--4/$6.4 million/$19 million/102/40%/10--This strident anti-abortion drama found a ready audience among opponents of the procedure, but didn't get much business from pro-choice advocates, meaning it was mostly preaching to the choir. Based on the memoir of former Planned Parenthood clinic director Abby Johnson, it describes how she found herself so repulsed by the procedure that she switched sides and became a pro-life advocate. Critics complained that the movie largely left out any nuance about abortion, and ended up being more propaganda than film.
Director: Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon
The Beach Bum--10/$1.8 million/$3.5 million/162/56%/55--If it wasn't clear after Serenity that the McConaissance was over, The Beach Bum, which had the second-lowest gross of any film that played on more than 1,000 screens last year, delivered the eulogy. To be fair, this was hardly made for mainstream consumption, even if it does have an impressive cast, including Isla Fisher, Jonah Hill, Martin Lawrence, and, um, Snoop Dogg. Matthew McConaughey played a novelist drifting through life in the Florida Keys, usually high or drunk or both. There were occasional snatches of a plot, but for the most part, it just followed McConaughey around from scene to scene.
Director: Harmony Korine
Expanding:
Hotel Mumbai--8/$3.2 million
April 5, 2019:
New Wide Releases:
Shazam!--1/$53.5 million/$140.4 million/21/90%/71--In this lighthearted superhero flick, which continued DC's attempt to dial the grit from their initial DCU movies way, way, way down, young foster kid Asher Angel is given extraordinary powers by a dying wizard (Djimon Hounsou): when he utters the word "Shazam", he turns into a superhero (Zachary Levi), much to the delight of his foster brother (Jack Dylan Glazer). Unfortunately, he also attracts the attention of an evil scientist (Mark Strong), whom the wizard rejected years earlier, and who desires the powers for himself. Despite good reviews, the film under-performed, probably because it came out too close to both Capetian Marvel (which also featured Hounsou, and, in the old comics, was the original name of Shazam) and Avengers: Endgame. A sequel is coming anyway.
Director: David F. Sandberg
Pet Sematary--2/$24.5 million/$54.7 million/52/58%/57--The second adaption of Stephen King's novel (third, if you want to count 1992's Pet Sematary Two) about the importance of checking out all aspects of your new house and the surrounding neighborhood before you buy. Jason Clarke and Amy Seimetz star as the parents who move their kids to a rural house in Maine without realizing that the road in front is constantly full of speeding 18-wheelers and is near a burial ground that has the ability to bring dead things back to life. John Lithgow played the friendly neighbor who tries to convince Clarke not to use the cemetery after a predictable tragedy occurs. Critics liked it better than the 1989 version (which was a huge hit, but was critically panned), but they didn't like it that much, and after a solid opening, this faded quickly.
Director: Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer
The Best of Enemies--6/$4.5 million/$10.2 million/120/53%/49--Only a few months after Green Book came another based on a true story period piece where an African-American has to teach a white guy not to be racist. This time around, Taraji P. Henson played a school integration activist in 1970s North Carolina going up against KKK bigwig Sam Rockwell, who slowly learns that Blacks Are People Too. Despite the stellar cast and inspirational story, critics were largely unmoved and audiences ignored the film.
Director: Robin Bissell
Five Years Ago--March 27, 2015:
New Wide Releases:
Home--1/$52.1 million/$177.4 million/15/50%/55--In this animated feature, an alien race invades Earth and relocates all humans to Australia, but one teenage girl (voiced by Rihanna) is separated from her mother (Jennifer Lopez) and is left behind. She reluctantly befriends a misfit alien (Jim Parsons) who promises to help her get to her family. Steve Marin voiced the alien's leader. The film did very well, but was largely dismissed by critics.
Director: Tim Johnson
Get Hard--2/$33.8 million/$90.4 million/31/28%/34--Will Ferrell starred in this comedy as an wealthy hedge fund manager who is sentenced to 10 years in prison for embezzlement. Terrified, he hires Kevin Hart, who works at a car wash, to help him get ready for his incarceration, not realizing that Hart had never been to jail. Hijinks ensue. Craig T. Nelson played Ferrell's boss. Critics accused the film of both not being funny and, while seemingly commenting on racism, being racist itself. Box office wise, the film did decent business, but given the leads, it still underperformed.
Director: Etan Cohen
New Limited Releases:
While We're Young--$7.6 million/136/84%/77--Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts play a couple in their 40s dealing with career stall and infertility when they meet the younger Adam Driver and Amanda Seyfried. Initially buoyed by the younger couples verve and energy, Stiller and Watts eventually begin to realize that Driver and Seyfried are less than the sum of their parts. Charles Groden played Watt's father and Stiller's mentor. Director Noah Baumbach worked with Stiller for the second time (after Greenberg) and Adam Driver, who he would eventually direct to an Oscar nomination in Marriage Story, for the first time.
Director: Noah Baumbach
The Salt of the Earth--$1.3 million/203/95%/83--This Oscar nominee for Best Documentary chronicled the life and career of acclaimed photographer Sebastiao Salgado, who has traveled the world recording images of poor humans and the powers that be that exploit them. This was co-directed by acclaimed filmmaker Wim Wenders and Salgado's son Juliano.
Director: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Expanding:
It Follows--5/$3.8 million
April 3, 2015:
New Wide Releases:
Furious 7--1/$147.2 million/$353 million/5/81%/67--The Fast and the Furious is the rare franchise that actually seems to get more popular the longer it goes on. Most series are running out of steam by the 7th installment. Furious 7, the final film to feature Paul Walker (who had died nearly a year and a half earlier), was the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2015, and the highest grosser to open outside the summer or the holidays. The plot of these seem sort of immaterial at this point, as the important part is that it brings in Kurt Russell as a government agent, and gives a much bigger role to Jason Statham, who had a cameo in the previous film, making him this installment's Big Bad.
Director: James Wan
Woman in Gold--7/$2.1 million/$33.3 million/77/57%/51--Helen Mirren, who would become maybe the most improbable member of the sprawling cast of the Fast & Furious franchise with the next movie, starred in its counter-programming this time around, playing a elderly Jewish woman who, as a young lady, had been forced to flee Austria after the arrival of the Germans. Decades later, she discovers that several paintings that had belonged to the family before the war were on display at a government-owned museum in Vienna. Convinced that the paintings had been stolen by the Nazis, she files suit to have the paintings, including the titular work, returned to her family. Ryan Reynolds played her attorney, and among the supporting cast were Katie Holmes, Tatiana Maslany, Charles Dance, Elizabeth McGovern, Francis Fisher, and Jonathan Pryce as US Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. The film largely got mixed reviews, but did decently at the box office, and Mirren remained in the Oscar conversation for the entire year.
Director: Simon Curtis
Ten Years Ago--March 26, 2010:
New Wide Releases:
How to Train Your Dragon--1/$43.7 million/$217.6 million/9/99%/75--Arguably the most beloved of DreamWork Animation's productions (with the possible exception of Chicken Run), this tells the tale of Vikings living on a remote island who have to battle frequent raids by dragons. The chief's outcast son (voiced by Jay Baruchel), who is more interested in tinkering and inventing than fighting dragons first-hand, uses his new harpoon gun to bring down a rare Night Fury, but to his surprise discovers that the creatures, far from being the vicious monsters of legend, are actually gentle and friendly. America Ferrara voiced the girl he has a crush on, Gerard Butler played his father, and Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller, and Kristen Wiig voiced the other teens on the island. In addition to the stellar reviews, the film garnered two Oscar nominations, for Animated Feature and Score. The film would be followed by two sequels and several spin-off shows on Netflix.
Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders
Hot Tub Time Machine--3/$14 million/$50.3 million/63%/63--This goofy comedy with an insane premise, which bent over backwards to let the viewer know that it knows it's a goofy comedy with an insane premise, starred John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, and Clark Duke as four guys living dead-end lives, who, on a trip to a resort the first three frequented in their youth, discover that their hot tub has transported them to 1986, where they can now try to keep from making the mistakes that would mess up their lives. Chevy Chase appeared as a repairman who seemed to know the guys' secret. This one did well enough to get a much less well-received sequel five years later.
Director: Steve Pink
April 2, 2010:
New Wide Releases:
Clash of the Titans--1/$61.2 million/$163.2 million/14/27%/39--This remake of the 1981 sword-and-sandals epic about Greek demigod Perseus (Sam Worthington) and his battle against the underworld replaced the original's special effects, handcrafted by Ray Harryhausen, with CGI effects. Liam Neeson played Zeus, and Ray Finnes played Hades. With the success of Avatar (also starring Worthington), Warner Bros. decided to convert the film, which had been shot in traditional 2D, to 3D. Audiences, who were eager for anything 3D at that point, made it a huge blockbuster. A sequel followed in 2012.
Director: Louis Leterrier
Why Did I Get Married Too?--2/$29.3 million/$60.1 million/56/27%/43--The end of the first Why Did I Get Married? seemed to leave the four couples in a good place. But if that was true, there would be no need for this sequel, so once again, the couples (played by Tyler Perry/Sharon Leal, Janet Jackson/Malik Yoba, Jill Scott/Lamman Rucker, and Tasha Smith/Michael Jai White) find themselves navigating marital choppy waters, with one of the couples deciding on an increasingly bitter divorce. Cicely Tyson and Louis Gosset Jr. play a couple that's been happily married for years. Like many of Perry's projects, this one opened very well and burned out very fast.
Director: Tyler Perry
The Last Song--4/$16 million/$62.3 million/52/21%/33--Miley Cyrus took her first steps away from being Hannah Montana by starring in this adaption of a Nicolas Sparks novel, which is different from most adaptions of Nicholas Sparks novel by being set in Georgia instead of North Carolina. Cyrus played a rebellious teen (who, like most rebellious teens in movies like this, is about as threatening as a glass of milk), who falls for her real-life future husband Liam Hemsworth, in his first major movie role. Of course, this being a Sparks adaption, someone has to die tragically. Greg Kinnear played Cyrus's father.
Director: Julie Anne Robinson
Fifteen Years Ago--April 1, 2005:
New Wide Releases:
Sin City--1/$28.1 million/$74.1 million/32/77%/74--One of the more strikingly filmed movies in recent history, this bleak adaption of Frank Miller's bleak comic book series featured an all-star cast, including Bruce Willis as a rare good cop, Benicio del Toro as an all-too-common bad cop, Mickey Rourke as a guy trying to avoid being framed for a prostitute's murder, Clive Owen as the boyfriend of a prostitute, Jessica Alba as a stripper, Rosario Dawson as a prostitute, and Nick Stahl and Elijah Wood as serial killers. As I said, bleak. It was followed in 2014 by a far less well-received sequel.
Director: Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino (billed as "Special Guest Director")
Beauty Shop--2/$12.8 million/$36.4 million/74/38%/53--In this spin-off from the successful Barbershop series, Queen Latifah (whose character was introduced in Barbershop 2) opens her own beauty shop, to the chagrin of her former employer (Kevin Bacon) as all of her clients follow her to her new place. Andie MacDowell played a loyal customer, Alicia Silverstone and Alfrie Woodward played hairdressers in Latifah's shop, Djimon Hounsou played the hot guy upstairs Latifah falls for, and Octavia Spencer played another customer.
Director: Bille Woodruff
Expanding:
The Upside of Anger--8/$4.1 million
April 8, 2005:
New Wide Releases:
Sahara--1/$18.1 million/$68.7 million/35/38%/41--Despite writing over 80 books, many of them best-sellers, the recently deceased Clive Cussler only had two of his novels adapted into movies. Given that both 1979s Raise the Titanic and this one lost tons of money, the lack of adaptions is understandable. The plot has Matthew McConaughey and sidekick Steve Zahn searching for a Confederate States of America ship in modern-day Mali when they stumble across a conspiracy to keep a doctor (Penelope Cruz) from discovering the source of water contamination. William H. Macy played their boss. The film didn't do too badly, but the budget was so massive that even a decent gross meant it finished nowhere near breaking even.
Director: Breck Eisner
Fever Pitch--3/$12.4 million/$42.1 million/69/65%/56--The second adaption of Nick Hornby's novel about an obsessed soccer fan (the first was filmed in 1997 with Colin Firth in the lead role) was also the second and final starring role for Jimmy Fallon before he headed back to late night TV. Since this version takes place in America, the sport that Fallon is obsessed with is baseball, specifically the Boston Red Sox, and his season tickets and need to be at every single game begins to interfere with his relationship with girlfriend Drew Barrymore. While still very much a comedy, this was considerably more realistic and less wacky than the films that directors The Farrelly Brothers usually make.
Director: Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly
New Limited Releases:
Kung Fu Hustle--$17.1 million/123/90%/78--As mentioned before, Chinese films enjoyed some mainstream success in the US in the mid-aughts. While not as big of a hit as Hero, this wacky comedy did quite well for a foreign film. Stephen Chow, who also directed, played a hapless bumbler whose attempts to join a powerful crime gang keep getting thwarted, in part due to the inhabits of a slum, a surprising number of whom seem to be kung fu masters.
Director: Stephen Chow
Twenty Years Ago--March 31, 2000:
#1 Movie:
Erin Brockovich--$13.8 million
New Wide Releases:
The Road to El Dorado--2/$12.9 million/$50.9 million/51/48%/51--DreamWorks Animation, which had enjoyed solid successes with their first two movies Antz and The Prince of Egypt, had their first dud with Road. Maybe they shouldn't have hired two of the stars of Wild Wild West for the leads. Kevin Kline (speaking with his usual American accent) and Kenneth Branagh (speaking with his usual British accent) voice two 16th century Spanish conmen who, after acquiring a map to the legendary golden city of El Dorado, find themselves in the New World at the exact location to follow it. They are treated like gods when they arrive, but how long can they keep the act up before the citizens, the city's chief (Edward James Olmos), and the head priest (Armand Assante) get wise? Rosie Perez played a thief who agrees to help them keep their secret. Elton John was hired to perform the movie's original songs, but alas, "Someday Out of the Blue" did not become the new "Can You Feel the Love Tonight?"
Director: Eric "Bibo" Bergeron and Don Paul (uncredited direction by Jeffrey Katzenberg)
The Skulls--3/$11 million/$35.1 million/71/9%/24--This thriller about a secret society on a prominent college campus that is both evil and all-powerful proved to be timely in the spring of 2000, as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Texas governor George W. Bush, had been a member of the famed and super secret Skull & Bones Society during his time at Yale. Of course, timely doesn't mean good. Joshua Jackson starred as a newly inducted member who discovers the society's dark secrets. Paul Walker (who director Rob Cohen would hire a year later to star in his little movie about street racing) played a fellow inductee, with William Petersen and Craig T. Nelson as powerful alums. Despite under-performing in theaters, it would lead to two straight-to-video sequels.
Director: Rob Cohen
High Fidelity--5/$6.4 million/$27.3 million/87/91%/79--In this Americanized adaption of British author Nick Hornby's first novel (albeit one with a British director), John Cusack played the owner of a Chicago record store whose romantic life is a disaster, and who seeks out his exes to find out what went wrong. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Lili Taylor played two of his exes, Cusack's real-life sister Joan played a friend, Tim Robbins cameoed as a new suitor for Cusack's ex, and a certain Boss also cameoed. This would prove to be the breakout role for Jack Black, who after this film moved on from mostly supporting roles to start getting leads.
Director: Stephen Frears
New Limited Releases:
Price of Glory--$3.4 million/162/33%/32--In this routine boxing/family drama, Jimmy Smits played a former boxer who dreamed that his three sons would win the championships he was denied, so he pushes them to the breaking point. Jon Seda and Clifton Collins, Jr. play two of the sons, and Ron Perlman played a promoter who takes an interest in the boys and their career.
Director: Carlos Avila
April 7, 2000:
New Wide Releases:
Rules of Engagement--1/$15 million/$61.3 million/39/36%/45--In this military courtroom drama, which desperately wants to be another A Few Good Men, Samuel L. Jackson is a Marine colonel who is accused of firing into an unarmed crowd surrounding the American Embassy in Yemen. Tommy Lee Jones is an old friend, a now-retired JAG lawyer who agrees to represent him in the court-martial. Ben Kingsley played the American ambassador, and Guy Pierce played the prosecutor. Despite a strong cast, which included Anne Archer, Bruce Greenwood, Blair Underwood, and Philip Baker Hall, this had a marginal script and was quickly forgotten.
Director: William Friedkin
Return to Me--4/$7.8 million/$32.7 million/78/62%/54--In this charming but slight romantic comedy, the first and so far only feature film directed by Bonnie Hunt, David Duchovny played a recent widower who finds himself falling for an artist (Minnie Driver) who had had a heart transplant. Of course, her new heart is from his late wife, a fact that neither of them know until their relationship is well under way. Hunt played Driver's best friend, Jim Belushi played Hunt's husband, David Alan Grier played Duchovny's friend, Carroll O'Connor, in his final film, played Driver's grandfather, and Robert Loggia played O'Conner's friend.
Director: Bonnie Hunt
Ready to Rumble--6/$5.3 million/$12.4 million/126/23%/--The Turner-owned World Championship Wrestling was never as popular as its dominant competitor World Wrestling Federation, but did achieve some success in the late 90s, enough to make a feature film revolving around the circuit not such an insane idea. The comedy starred David Arquette and Scott Caan as fans of pro wrestler Oliver Platt, who are outraged when he loses the championship. The two set out to convince Platt, who decided to retire, to get back into the ring and win what he deserves (apparently, the matches aren't fixed in this reality). Martin Landau hopefully got a nice paycheck for playing an elderly trainer. Several WCW wrestlers, including Diamond Dallas Page, Goldberg, and Randy Savage also appear, as does a young, uncredited John Cena. A year after the movie came out, the WWF bought out the WCW.
Director: Brian Robbins
Black & White--11/$2.2 million/$5.3 million/149/39%/47--Scott Caan and Joe Pantoliano did double duty this week, as the Ready to Rumble co-stars also appeared in this drama that made the rounds of the movie festivals of Fall 1999, but didn't get a theatrical release until the following spring. The film starred Brooke Shields and Robert Downey Jr. as documentary filmmakers working on a movie about white kids in the New York hip-hop scene, which included Caan, Jared Leto, and Elijah Wood. Ben Stiller played a sleazy bookmaker, trying to entice a college basketball player (NBA star Allan Houston) into throwing some games. The film also featured appearances from such acting luminaries as the Wu-Tang Clan, the recently divorced Marla Maples, Mike Tyson, Claudia Schiffer, and the film's director, James Toback. It also featured, in a tiny role, the film debut of then-12-year-old Michael B. Jordan.
Director: James Toback
Twenty-Five Years Ago--March 31, 1995:
New Wide Releases:
Tommy Boy--1/$8 million/$32.7 million/54/42%/46--Inarguabley the greatest vehicle of the late comedian Chris Farley, this comedy has the SNL vet played the well-liked ne'er-do-well son of the owner of an auto parts manufacturer (the recently deceased Brian Dennehy) who has to step up after his father's sudden death to save the company. David Spade played Farley's sarcastic co-worker who goes on a road trip to sell the company's products to auto part stores, Bo Derek played Dennehy's new wife, Dan Ackroyd a competitor who is interested in buying the company, and an unbilled Rob Lowe as Derek's creepy son. Though it approached it in different ways, it more or less had the same basic plot as another moderate hit spring comedy starring an SNL star, Billy Madison (in which Farley had a cameo).
Director: Peter Segal
Tank Girl--10/$2 million/$4.1 million/154/40%/46--In this post-apocalyptic action-comedy-thriller, Lori Petty played the title role, who is captured by the evil corporation that controls the world's water supply, escapes, and fights back. An unknown Naomi Watts played her friend, Ice-T played a human/kangaroo hybrid (yes, really), and Malcolm McDowell played the evil head of the evil corporation. Derided at the time as a distaff Mad Max, the film is now more fondly remembered and has a minor cult around it. This was Petty's last starring role in a major film: she now mostly works on TV.
Director: Rachel Talalay
Born to Be Wild--12/$1.7 million/$3.7 million/161/NA/NA--Speaking of Lori Petty, this flop family film was a clear rip-off of Free Willy, about a boy (Wil Horneff) who steals a gorilla he had befriended after he learned that the animal is to be exhibited in a sideshow. Peter Boyle, probably the most recognizable member of the cast, played the gorilla's evil owner.
Director: John Gray
Expanding:
Circle of Friends--7/$2.5 million
April 7, 1995:
New Wide Releases:
Bad Boys--1/$15.5 million/$65.8 million/27/43%/41--Sitcom stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence headlined this action comedy about two Miami cops who are tasked with figuring out who stole $100 million worth of heroin from the evidence locker, and leave a trail of destruction through greater Miami in pursuit of this. Tea Leoni played a witness to a shootout who can identify the kingpin responsible. The film did well, though it wouldn't be until the following year's Independence Day that Smith's career would really launch into the stratosphere. The film would be followed by two sequels, both of which were much bigger hits than this one was. The feature film debut of music video and commercial director Michael Bay.
Director: Michael Bay
A Goofy Movie--2/$6.1 million/$35.4 million/51/59%/NA--A feature film spinoff of the popular animated series Goof Troop, about beloved Disney character Goofy and his pre-teen son Max, this animated comedy sends the duo on a wacky road trip, while Max, now in high school, tries to redirect their route to Los Angeles after telling his crush he'd be onstage during a televised concert. This is fondly remembered by many of the now-adults who watched this when they were kids. Followed by a straight-to-video sequel.
Director: Kevin Lima
Don Juan DeMarco--4/$4.6 million/$22.2 million/76/69%/63--Marlon Brando starred in this romantic drama as a psychiatrist nearing retirement who agrees to treat one last patient, a suicidal young man who claims to be Don Juan, the world's greatest lover (Johnny Depp). Listening to the man's stories stirs something in Brando, who decides to rekindle his fading marriage to Faye Dunaway. Depp and Brando enjoyed working together so much that they would re-team a few years later to make the ill-fated The Brave. The film's theme song, "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?", by Bryan Adams, would be a #1 hit on the Billboard chart and score an Oscar nomination.
Director: Jeremy Leven
Rob Roy--9/$2 million/$31.6 million/57/73%/55--1995's other film about a Scottish freedom fighter, this action drama starred the Irish Liam Neeson as Rob Roy, head of a poor clan whose expensive loan gets stolen by a British aristocrat (Tim Roth). Forced to flee since he can't pay the loan back, Neeson wages war against both Roth and his debtor (John Hurt), who knows Roth stole the money but doesn't much care. The American Jessica Lange played Neeson's wife. Despite getting lost in the glare of Braveheart, this was still a moderate hit, and Roth would be nominated for Supporting Actor at the Oscars a year later.
Director: Michael Canton-Jones
Thirty Years Ago--March 30, 1990:
New Wide Releases:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--1/$25.4 million/$135.3 million/5/40%/51--Even though the comics had been running since 1984, and the animated series had been in syndication since 1987, Hollywood was still understandably shocked when the live-action adaption scored by far the biggest opening of the year to that point, and in fact the biggest opening since Back to the Future, Part II at Thanksgiving (it would end up as the second biggest opening for all of 1990, finishing below Total Recall's opening by only a couple hundred thousand dollars). The Turtles, aided by their giant rat master Splinter fight the evil Foot Clan, led by Shredder, who was formerly the rival of Splinter's owner. Elias Koteas played a vigilante who is a Turtle ally, and a young Sam Rockwell, in only his second film, played a member of the Foot Clan. The film, which would be the highest-grossing independent film of all time up to that point, would inspire two sequels, and there have also been two feature film reboots of the still-beloved franchise since.
Director: Steve Barron
Opportunity Knocks--5/$3.5 million/$11.4 million/93/13%/NA--Dana Carvey had a lot of success on Saturday Night Live, but other than the Wayne's World films, that did not translate to any success on the big screen. Case in point is this, his first starring vehicle, where he played a con man who discovers that a luxurious house is just sitting empty, and assumes the identity of the absent housesitter. Hijinks occur. Robert Loggia played a friend of the house's owner, whose daughter Carvey falls for.
Director: Donald Petrie
Expanding:
Nuns on the Run--7/$2.2 million
My Left Foot--10/$1.1 million
April 6, 1990:
#1 Movie:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles--$18.8 million
New Wide Releases:
Ernest Goes to Jail--3/$6.1 million/$25 million/51/13%/40--The third in the inexplicably popular film series about the sweet-but-dim hick Ernest (Jim Varney), this one is a Prince and the Pauper riff in reverse, as Ernest gets kidnapped and swapped out for his evil prisoner lookalike, who assumes Ernest's identity while Ernest languishes in jail. Somehow, Ernest gets superpowers along the way. Charles Napier hopefully cashed a pretty good paycheck to play the prison warden.
Director: John Cherry
The First Power--4/$5.7 million/$22.4 million/55/22%/35--Lou Diamond Phillips takes down a Satan-worshiping serial killer, but when the killer is executed, Satan brings him back, and now he wants revenge. Despite getting worse reviews, this ended up outgrossing Wes Craven's fall 1989 release Shocker, another movie about a Satanic serial killer who survives his execution.
Director: Robert Resnikoff
I Love You To Death--6/$4 million/$16.2 million/74/56%/45--This overstuffed comedy starred Kevin Kline as a womanizing restaurant owner whose fed-up wife (Tracy Ullman) and her mother (Joan Plowright) recruit a young restaurant employee (River Phoenix) and two stoners (William Hurt and Keanu Reeves) to kill him. But despite multiple attempts, he just won't die. Despite the stellar cast and direction from Lawrence Kasdan (making his 4th movie with Hurt and 3rd with Kline), this one largely fell flat.
Director: Lawrence Kasdan
Cry-Baby--8/$3 million/$8.3 million/105/72%/63--After shocking the world by making the PG-rated Hairspray, John Waters gets a little more racy, but only PG-13 racy, in this parody of the 50s, musicals, and 50s musicals. Good girl Amy Locane falls for bad boy Johnny Depp, much to the horror of her clique and her boyfriend, who will do anything to ensure that Depp is sent away for good. This one got solid reviews, but was a box-office disappointment.
Director: John Waters
Thirty Years Ago--March 29, 1985:
New Wide Releases:
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment--1/$10.7 million/$55.6 million/11/33%/39--A quickie sequel to the surprise smash hit from just a year earlier, this one struck a middle ground between the R-rated raunchiness of the first film and the PG-rated family fun of the rest of the franchise. In other words, there are boobs in this one, just not many, and they are fleeting. Speaking of boobs, the gang from the first film, including Steve Guttenberg, Bubba Smith, and Michael Winslow, are assigned to the worst precinct in town, where they have to try to lower the crime rate and keep their new captain (Howard Hesseman, in his one appearance in the franchise) from getting fired. Also joining the cast would be franchise regulars Bobcat Goldwaithe (as a gang leader, who would reform for his subsequent appearances) and Tim Kazurinsky.
Director: Jerry Paris
The Care Bears Movie--4/$3.7 million/$22.9 million/40/50%/NA--It's rather incredible how much of children's entertainment of the late 70s and early-to-mid 80s originated on greeting cards. The Care Bears were one such product, moving from cards to toys to animated specials to this movie, which proved to be a moderate hit. The plot has the Bears, their cousins, all of whom are a different, non-bear animal, and a couple of plucky orphans, try to defeat a young wizard under the corrupting spell of an evil spirit who wants to destroy the world. Mickey Rooney is the most prominent member of the voice cast. For a time, this was the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film ever. Followed by several TV series, two film sequels, and a reboot in the aughts.
Director: Arna Selznick
Return of the Jedi--6/$3.2 million/$11.3 million/73/82%/58--Less than two years after its initial release, there was little interest among moviegoers to return to the galaxy far, far away. As a possible result, this would be the last widescale re-release of any movie from the original trilogy into theaters until the 1997 Special Editions.
Director: Richard Marquand
New Limited Releases:
King David--$5.1 million/114/8%/NA--Richard Gere, an unlikely pick to star in a Biblical epic, starred in this retelling of the life of David, who started as a poor shepard boy and ended as the ruler of Israel. Unfortunately, in 1985, no one was much interested in old-fashioned Biblical epics. This put Gere in the rather unfortunate position of starring in two flops in a row, after The Cotton Club. His career wouldn't really get back on track until Pretty Woman five years later.
Director: Bruce Beresford
Desperately Seeking Susan--$27.4 million/31/83%/71--In 1985, Madonna was one of the hottest singers in the country, with her album Like a Virgin enjoying a 3-week run at the top of the charts in February, and the title song hitting #1 shortly before the end of 1984. With this comedy, her film debut other than a student film and a cameo in Vision Quest, it looked like she could act as well. She played Susan, who steals a pair of earrings from a one-night stand, only to learn that they were extremely valuable. Rosanna Arquette played a bored housewife who is fascinated with Susan, and after hitting her head, comes to believe she herself is Susan. Aidan Quinn plays the friend of Susan's real boyfriend, who thinks that Arquette is the actual Susan. Critics were largely delighted with the comedy, and it became a sleeper hit. Unfortunately for Madonna and her burgeoning acting career, her next film was Shanghai Surprise.
Director: Susan Seidelman
The Slugger's Wife--$1.9 million/143/0%/29--Despite direction by Hal Ashby and a script by Neil Simon, this romantic dramady about the rocky relationship between a baseball player (Michael O'Keefe) and his rock singer wife (Rebecca DeMornay) struck out.
Director: Hal Ashby
April 5, 1985:
#1 Movie:
Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment--$8.6 million
Forty Years Ago--March 28, 1980:
The Black Stallion--$37.8 million/18/90%/84--After a slow roll-out around the country, this acclaimed boy-and-his-horse movie finally went wide ahead of the Oscars, where it was up for two awards. After being swept overboard and getting rescued by the titular horse, a young boy survives on a deserted island and he and stallion come to trust in each other. After being rescued, the boy and a horse trainer (Mickey Rooney, who was a Supporting Actor nominee) the kid befriends prepare him for a big race. The editing was also nominated. The movie would be followed by two unmemorable sequels.
Director: Carroll Ballard
The Changeling--NA/NA/82%/70--In this horror movie, widower George C. Scott moves into a long-empty mansion, only to realize there's some sort of presence there. As he works to uncover the mystery, he discovers a connection between the long-ago events in the house and a powerful senator (Melvyn Douglas, weeks away from winning an Oscar for playing another powerful Washington insider in Being There). Scott's real-life wife Trish Van Devere played the agent of the house's owners, who joins Scott in the investigation.
Director: Peter Medak
Jesus--NA/NA/NA/NA--Just in time for Easter came this inspirational film about the life of the Son of God. Hewing closely to the text of the Gospel of Luke, this drama was embraced by Christians but largely ignored by secular audiences. However, it remains a tool that evangelicals use to spread the Gospel. While claims that this is the most watched movie of all time are highly disputed, it probably is the most translated film of all time, as it has been dubbed into over a thousand languages.
Director: John Krish and Peter Sykes
Lady and the Tramp--$26.1 million/24/93%/78--Disney successfully re-released its 1955 animated film in the spring of 1980, introducing the story of a purebred cocker spaniel, who falls for a ragged stray mutt. Upon its initial release, critics were largely disappointed, but its reputation was definitely on the upswing by 1980, with the spaghetti scene having already achieved iconic status.
Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske
Nothing Personal--NA/NA/NA/NA--Three's Company star Suzanne Somers attempted to leap to movie stardom in this romcom with an environmental twist. Donald Sutherland played a professor trying to stop the hunting of baby seals, and Somers is the attorney who gets involved with him on the issue. Despite a decent supporting cast, including Dabney Coleman and Roscoe Lee Brown, and cameos from several SCTV alum, including Catherine O'Hara, Eugene Levy, and Joe Flaherty (director George Bloomfield directed numerous episodes of that show), this fizzed out and disappeared without a trace.
Director: George Bloomfield
Serial--$9.9 million/62/NA/NA--1980 was the year of the adultery comedy. Already, this year had seen The Last Married Couple in America and Just Tell Me What You Want. Now came this film, in which befuddled Martin Mull breaks up with wife Tuesday Weld and takes up with a 19-year-old. At least its title was snappier than the others.
Director: Bill Persky
Simon--NA/NA/57%/NA--Alan Arkin played the title character, an egotistical philosophy professor who is brainwashed by scientist Austin Pendleton into believing he's an alien here to save the planet. Madeline Kahn played a woman recruited to pretend to be Arkin's dream woman. Director Marshall Brickman had co-wrote Woody Allen's Sleeper, and this dark comedy was considered much in the same vein.
Director: Marshall Brickman
Tom Horn--NA/NA/83%/NA--In his next-to-last film (he would be dead before the end of the year), Steve McQueen played the title character, a famous tracker who is hired to stamp out cattle rustling in turn-of-the-century Wyoming. His methods prove to be brutal, particularly when a teenage boy is found dead, leading McQueen to be tried for murder. This dark western, based on a true story, under-performed and got mixed reviews, though its reputation is better today.
Director: William Wiard
When Time Ran Out...--$3.8 million/93/0%/NA--The last of the big budgeted, all-star disaster films that proved so popular during the 1970s. Paul Newman is an oil driller and his Towering Inferno co-star William Holden is the owner of a tropical resort next to a volcano that is about to blow. They have to lead the survivors on a hazardous trek to the other side of the island. Did time run out before they could throw in a love triangle? Nope, there were multiple love triangles! By this point, audiences were bored with this type of film, and the general lousiness didn't help, as did the fact that, after the two leads, the rest of the "all-star" cast was B-level at best. Still, it got an Oscar nomination for Costume Design, since the Costume branch at the time apparently had a weakness for bad disaster movies (in previous years, Airport '77 and The Swarm had also gotten Costume nominations). Newman used his paycheck from the film to start Newman's Own.
Director: James Gladstone
April 4, 1980:
Grease--NA/NA/75%/70--A few weeks after Jaws 2 got a re-release came this second chance to see an even bigger hit from two summers ago. Sunny cheerleader Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) and rebellious Danny (John Travolta, who at 24 was the one of the younger actors playing a high school kid) fall in love, break up, fall in love, break up, fall in love, break up, and then Sandy does a 180 in her dress and attitude, and their car flies away. Oh, and they sing and dance a lot. Newton-John's follow-up projects (Xanadu and Two of a Kind) flopped hard, and that was the end of her leading lady career. Since men get numerous more chances, it took a truly epic lousy run in the mid-80s (the aforementioned Two of a Kind, Staying Alive, Perfect) to reduce Travolta to a has-been, and even then, he had multiple comebacks and will probably have another one sooner or later.
Director: Randal Kleiser
Nijinsky--$1.1 million/107/43%/NA--This was a biopic of the early 20th century ballet dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, who became one of the most acclaimed dancers in the world, but mental issues and a falling out with his former boss and lover Diaghilev (Alan Bates) brought a premature end to his career. Dancer George de la Pena made his film debut as the title character (after Mikhail Baryshnikov turned it down). It would be his only leading role in a movie, though he has acted regularly on both the screen and stage. The fact it dealt with a homosexual relationship in a non-judgmental manner probably didn't help its box office circa 1980.
Director: Herbert Ross
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