After the mid-90s, the holiday movie season would kick off on the first weekend of November, though before then, the first big movies of the season would come out closer to Thanksgiving. Meanwhile, if you thought the weekend before Halloween was a lousy time to release a movie, see what happens to films that are released on weekends that contain Halloween.
One Year Ago--November 1, 2019:
New Wide Releases:
Terminator: Dark Fate--1/$29 million/$62.3 million/45/70%/54--The dark fate of the Terminator franchise might have been sealed by this, the third flop reboot in a little over a decade. There was pre-release excitement about the fact that this one brought both Linda Hamilton her ex-husband James Cameron (as a writer-producer) back to the series for the first time since 1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day (i.e. the last completely successful Terminator movie), but despite good reviews, this managed to be the lowest-grossing entry since the 1984 original, which of course earned its $38 million in 1984 dollars. Natalia Reyes played the new target of the terminators, Gabriel Luna played the highly advanced terminator sent back to kill her, Mackenzie Davis a super-soldier also sent back to protect her, Diego Boneta as Reyes's brother, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the T-800.
Director: Tim Miller
Harriet--4/$11.7 million/$43.1 million/65/74%/66--The life story of Harriet Tubman has been surprisingly overlooked by Hollywood, despite her renown as arguably the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad, with the only major production about her life being a 1978 miniseries. Harriet finally corrected that, though critics complained it did so in the most formulaic way possible. What they didn't complain about was the performance of Broadway vet Cynthia Erivo in the title role. Erivo, in her first lead role in a film, won across-the-board raves, even from critics who otherwise didn't like the film. Fellow Broadway vet Leslie Odom Jr. played a abolitionist who helps Harriet, Vondie Curtis-Hall played a preacher, Vanessa Bell Calloway played Harriet's mother, Joe Alwyn as Harriet's former owner, and Janelle Monae as a free woman who helps Harriet's cause. Erivo's performance would be Oscar-nominated for Best Actress, and the film's Original Song "Stand Up", co-written by her, would also get an Oscar nod.
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Motherless Brooklyn--9/$3.5 million/$9.3 million/122/63%/60--A longtime passion project of Edward Norton's, he both starred and directed in this neo-noir, and assembled an all-star cast to surround him. He played a Tourette's-afflicted detective in the 1950s who is trying to solve the murder of his boss, mentor, and surrogate father (Bruce Willis). Gugu Mbatha-Raw played a community activist fighting urban renewal, which Willis was investigating, and who becomes Norton's love interest. Also in the cast was Alec Baldwin as a powerful city official intent on renewal, Willem Dafoe as an opponent of Baldwin's, Bobby Cannavale as another detective, Leslie Mann as Willis's widow, and Cherry Jones as another activist. Despite the strong cast and decent reviews, the film flopped.
Director: Edward Norton
Arctic Dogs--10/$2.9 million/$5.8 million/136/13%/28--Even with the only other family films playing in early November being the three-week-old Maleficient: Mistress of Evil and the four-week-old The Addams Family, parents still gave a hard pass to this cheap looking animated comedy, which looks like it accidently stumbled into theaters instead of its natural home in Redboxes. Despite the title, the main character is a fox (Jeremy Renner) who discovers a conspiracy by a walrus (John Cleese) to take over the world. Among the not-awful voice cast is Alec Baldwin (whose two films this weekend had a combined final gross that was less than half of Dark Fate's flop opening weekend), Heidi Klum, Michael Madsen, James Franco, and Anjelica Huston.
Director: Aaron Woodley
New Limited Releases:
The Irishman--NA/NA/96%/94--Despite being arguably America's greatest living filmmaker, Martin Scorsese couldn't get any studio to give him $200 million for his epic, 3 1/2 hour drama about a mob hitman (Robert De Niro) and his time working for Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino, who had somehow never worked for Scorsese before). Enter Netflix, who was happy to pony up the money and the running time in exchange for making it an exclusive to the streaming service, other than a limited theatrical release. It was worth it, as the streamer got one of the most talked-about titles of 2019. Joe Pesci, who had largely retired in 1998, returned in only his third movie in the last two decades, playing the mob boss who first takes a shine to De Niro. Ray Romano played Hoffa's attorney, Bobby Carnivale and Harvey Keitel played other mobsters, and Anna Paquin played De Niro's estranged daughter, with other roles for Jesse Plemons, Jack Huston, and Steven Van Zandt. Part of the film's cost was the use of the very expensive de-aging technology, used on the actors to make them look decades younger in the scenes set in the 1950s (similar technology was used in Gemini Man). The film would earn ten Oscar nominations, including Picture, Director for Scorsese, Supporting Actor for both Pesci and Pacino, Adapted Screenplay, Costumes, Cinematography, Production Design, Editing, and Visual Effects. It would fail to win any. Though Netflix notoriously refuses to release box office figures for its films that do get theatrical releases, estimates are that the film earned roughly $7 million at the box office.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Five Years Ago--October 30, 2015:
#1 Movie:
The Martian--$11.7 million
New Wide Releases:
Burnt--6/$5 million/$13.7 million/115/28%/42--Not even Bradley Cooper could drum up much interest in this drama, in which he played a self-destructive chef attempting a comeback. Neither could the all-star cast, including Uma Thurman as a restaurant critic, Emma Thompson as a shrink, Sienna Miller as a sous-chef (and Cooper's love interest), Daniel Bruhl as the owner of the hotel Cooper works at, and Alicia Vikander as Cooper's ex.
Director: John Wells
Our Brand is Crisis--8/$3.2 million/$7 million/139/36%/53--Another all-star drama getting dumped over Halloween, this fictionalized version of the 2005 documentary chronicling American political consultants and their impact on the presidential race in Bolivia starred Sandra Bullock as a hotshot campaign manager who arrives to take control of the fledging campaign of a political veteran, who is losing ground to younger, more radical opponents. Billy Bob Thornton played the American in charge of a rival campaign, while Anthony Mackie, Ann Dowd, and Zoe Kazan as Bullock's colleagues on the campaign. Despite being produced by Bullock's Gravity co-star George Clooney and being directed by David Gordon Green, the film was a critical and commercial flop.
Director: David Gordon Green
Scout's Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse--12/$1.8 million/$3.7 million/157/44%/32--The weekend's final dump was the comedy-horror movie whose plot is pretty much described by the title. Scouts Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, and Joey Morgan and stripper Sarah Dumont team up to survive and save classmates at a party. David Koechner and Cloris Leachmen play townspeople-turned-zombies, and Patrick Schwarzenegger played a bully. Not even Halloween could get people into see this, as this was outgrossed this weekend by flops The Last Witch Hunter, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension, and Crimson Peak.
Director: Christopher Landon
Expanding:
Truth--16/$0.9 million
Ten Years Ago--October 29, 2010:
New Wide Release:
Saw 3D--1/$22.5 million/$45.7 million/70/10%/24--The Saw franchise limped to a close with this final entry (at least until 2017's Jigsaw), which did see an uptick from the grosses from the previous year's Saw VI thanks to the 3D gimmick, but still finished its run as the second-lowest grossing of the original series. Once again, a whole bunch of people who have be taught a lesson get placed in deadly traps, where most of them are violently killed. Costas Mandylor played the cop who was the movie's Big Bad, Sean Patrick Flanery played a new victim, Tobin Bell reprised his role as the Jigsaw Killer, even though his character had died three movies back, and Cary Elwes returned to the franchise for the first time since the first film, playing a survivor. It did decent business over Halloween, but opened well behind what Paranormal Activity 2 had done the weekend before.
Director: Kevin Greutert
New Limited Releases:
Waste Land--$0.2 million/288/100%/78--In this highly acclaimed Brazilian documentary, a group of catadores, or waste pickers, salvage recyclable material out of a giant landfill outside of Rio de Janeiro, to turn into artwork, which becomes acclaimed enough to be sold in prestigious European auction houses. The film would be nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars.
Director: Lucy Walker, Karen Harley, and Joao Jardim
Expanding:
Conviction--10/$1.8 million
Fifteen Years Ago--November 4, 2005:
New Wide Releases:
Chicken Little--1/$40.1 million/$135.4 million/14/37%/48--Disney's first fully computer animated in-house feature (Pixar was, at that time, still a separate company) was this rather poorly received sci-fi action comedy in which Chicken (Zach Braff) becomes the town laughingstock after claiming that the sky was falling, only to discover that the piece of "sky" that hit him was really a piece of an alien spacecraft. This one featured a strong voice cast, including Joan Cusack and Steve Zahn as Chicken Little's friends, Garry Marshall as his father, Don Knotts (in his final theatrical film) as the town mayor, Patrick Stewart as a teacher, and Fred Willard and Catherine O'Hara as aliens. Despite the reviews, it was also prove to be a solid hit, being the third highest-grossing Disney Feature Animated film of the decade, behind Dinosaur and Lilo & Stitch.
Director: Mark Dindal
Jarhead--2/$27.7 million/$62.7 million/41/61%/58--Jake Gyllenhaal's second film of the fall was this drama, based on a true story, where he played an aimless youth who joins the Marines. After numerous bouts of immaturity, he eventually qualifies as a sniper, just in time for the first Gulf War, which turns out to be extremely boring for ground troops. Jamie Foxx played Gyllenhaal's sergeant, Peter Sarsgaard played his sniping partner, and Lucas Black played another soldier in his unit. Expected to be a big Oscar player, this ended up getting mostly mixed reviews and, like Proof, ended up being shut out. Gyllenhaal's third movie of the fall, however, would do much better award-wise and even better box office-wise.
Director: Sam Mendes
Expanding:
Good Night, and Good Luck--7/$3.1 million
Shopgirl--9/$2.5 million
Twenty Years Ago--November 3, 2000:
New Wide Releases:
Charlie's Angels--1/$40.1 million/$125.3 million/14/68%/52--The rather cheesy 70s action drama, about three women who work for a PI who frequently go undercover, got a modern, feminist reboot. Taking place in the same continuity as the TV series (complete with the voice of John Forsythe returning as the never-seen Charlie), this starred Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu as the latest generation of Angels, tasked with rescuing a tech genius (Sam Rockwell) from a business rival (Tim Curry). Of course, things don't go completely as planned. Bill Murray played Bosley, Charlie's top assistant, Crispin Glover played a henchman, Kelly Lynch played Rockwell's business partner, Tom Green (at the time Barrymore's fiancée), Matt LeBlanc, and Luke Wilson played the Angels' boyfriends, and there were appearances from LL Cool J, Melissa McCarthy, Alex Trebek, and future former future presidential girlfriend Karen McDougal. A sequel would follow in 2003, and after a flop TV reboot, another sequel/reboot, with a whole new cast but also taking place in this continuity, would come out in 2019. This was the feature film debut of music video director McG (aka Joseph McGinty Nichol).
Director: McG
The Legend of Bagger Vance--3/$11.5 million/$30.9 million/81/43%/47--The "Magical Negro" genre was still alive and well in 2000 with this period golf drama, made by a bunch of people who should have known better. Matt Damon played a former top golfer who, after being traumatized by World War I, is now an alcoholic. After his ex-girlfriend (Charlize Theron) gives him an opportunity to play in an exhibition tournament with two of the top golfers in the world, he gets help from the mysterious Bagger (Will Smith) who is apparently a supernatural angel of golf. Despite taking place in Georgia in the 1930s, Bagger's race is somehow never an issue. Weirdly, the whole thing is based on the Hindu text Bhagavad Gita. Jack Lemmon appears unbilled in his final film role, narrating and appearing as the now-elderly man who observed the match as a child, and character actor Lane Smith also appeared in his final feature film as a sportswriter. After directing four movies in eight years, it wouldn't be until 2007 with Lions for Lambs that Robert Redford would direct again.
Director: Robert Redford
Twenty-Five Years Ago--November 3, 1995:
#1 Movie:
Get Shorty--$9.7 million
New Wide Releases:
Fair Game--4/$5 million/$11.5 million/110/12%/13--In 1995, Cindy Crawford was the world's most famous supermodel, which meant she should also be an actress. That air-tight logic is how we got this action flick, in which Crawford played the world's sexiest lawyer, who is forced to go on the run with cop William Baldwin after stumbling onto some information that an international money launderer doesn't want anyone to know. Christopher McDonald played Baldwin's boss, Salma Hayek played Baldwin's ex-girlfriend, and Dan Hedaya had a cameo as a lawyer. This is based on the same book as the very different Sylvester Stallone actioner Cobra.
Director: Andrew Sipes
Home for the Holidays--6/$4 million/$17.5 million/88/63%/56--Holly Hunter's second movie in two weeks was this big family dramady about a single mother (Hunter) who visits her large, eccentric family for Thanksgiving. Anne Bancroft and Charles Durning play her parents, Geraldine Chaplin her aunt, Robert Downey Jr. her gay brother, Cynthia Stevenson her uptight sister, Steve Guttenberg (in his second film of the fall) her equally uptight brother-in-law, Claire Danes her daughter, David Strathairn as Hunter's ex-boyfriend, Austin Pendleton as her boss, and Dylan McDermott as a (straight) friend of Downey's. Critics liked the performances, but felt the film was rather overstuffed. This was Jodie Foster's second directorial effort. She wouldn't direct again until 2011's The Beaver.
Director: Jodie Foster.
Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain--9/$2.5 million/$6 million/141/50/NA--This awkwardly-titled adventure was Christina Ricci's second period tween girl buddy dramady in three weeks, one that, despite this one's PG-rating, might be even more intense than the PG-13 Now and Then. Ricci played a city girl relocated to the country where she befriends Anna Chlumsky (who after this wouldn't make another theatrical film until 2009's In the Loop), who has a troubled home life and is convinced that there is a fortune in gold in a nearby mountain. Polly Draper played Ricci's mother, Diana Scarwid played Chlumsky's mother, David Keith played Scarwid's abusive boyfriend, and Ricci's Now and Then co-star Ashleigh Aston Moore had a small role as a local girl. Audiences clearly preferred the PG-13 Ricci, as this one's final gross didn't even equal Now and Then's opening weekend.
Director: Kevin James Dobson
Thirty Years Ago--November 2, 1990:
New Wide Releases:
Jacob's Ladder--1/$7.5 million/$26.1 million/47/73%/62--This horror thriller, a change of pace for director Adrian Lyne, starred Tim Robbins as a Vietnam vet experiencing horrific hallucinations. As he attempts to get help, he discovers that there may be a vast conspiracy at work regarding exactly what happened during a faithful battle a few years earlier. Lyne assembled a strong cast, including Elizabeth Pena as Robbins's girlfriend, Danny Aiello as a friend of Robbins, Jason Alexander as a lawyer, Eriq La Salle and Ving Rhames as fellow soldiers, Lewis Black as a doctor, and Macaulay Culkin, a few weeks before he became the most famous kid in the world, as Robbins's son. The screenplay was from Bruce Joel Rubin, and bore at least some superficial similarities to his other big screenplay that year, Ghost. A little-seen remake came out in 2019.
Director: Adrian Lyne
Graffiti Bridge--8/$2.5 million/$4.6 million/126/19%/34--Prince became a movie star thanks to Purple Rain. However, staying a movie star proved far more difficult, as his two follow-ups, Under the Cherry Moon and this, an "unofficial" sequel to his 1984 blockbuster, were both critical and commercial bombs. Prince, who also directed, played a club owner whose co-owner and rival (Morris Day) wants to control all the local clubs, and tries to drive Prince out of the business. Mavis Staples and George Clinton played the other club owners in town, and 12-year-old musician Tevin Campbell played Staples's son. After this, Prince mostly stuck to music, as he never starred in nor directed another feature film.
Director: Prince
Thirty-Five Years Ago--November 1, 1985:
New Wide Releases:
Death Wish 3--1/$5.3 million/$16.1 million/54/11%/18--Having lost his wife in the first one and his daughter in the second one, Charles Bronson, playing the man with the worst luck with roving street gangs in history, now loses his old friend, which sends him back into vigilante mode as he tries to take down a violent gang leader and his band of thugs, which seems to have more members than the U.S. Army. Critics of course hated it, but it did well enough that another sequel would follow in 1987.
Director: Michael Winner
To Live and Die in L.A.--2/$3.6 million/$17.3 million/51/91%/81--A much better received crime drama than Death Wish 3, this thriller starred William Peterson as a Secret Service agent who is determined to bring down counterfeiter Willem Dafoe, no matter what. John Pankow played Peterson's partner, who is horrified by his illegal tactics, John Turturro played a jailed associate of Dafoe, Dean Stockwell played a corrupt attorney, and director Robert Downy, Sr. as Peterson's boss. This was somewhat of a critical comeback for director Willian Friedkin, even if it still disappointed at the box office.
Director: William Friedkin
A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge--4/$2.9 million/$30 million/30/41%/43--The formula wasn't quite down yet for the franchise, as the first sequel (opening, weirdly, the day after Halloween) to the surprise 1984 horror smash takes some departures from what would become the standard mythos, namely that Freddy (Robert England) actually tried to take over the body of high schooler Mark Patton, rather than just invade the dreams of the characters. This one is mostly remembered today for the homoerotic subtext (occasionally just text), though it did do quite well, either (depending on the source) nearly equaling or exceeding the gross of the first one. The third Nightmare would arrive in 1987.
Director: Jack Sholder
Forty Years Ago--October 31, 1980:
New Wide Releases:
The Awakening--$8.4 million/69/0%/NA--In this rather silly horror flick, an archeologist (Charleston Heston) meets his estranged 18-year-old daughter (Stephanie Zimbalist) about the same time a mummy of an evil Egyptian queen, which Heston had discovered at the moment of Zimbalist's birth, arrives in England for restoration. Gradually, Heston and Zimbalist realized the queen has possessed her and is planning to take over her body fully, unless Heston is able to stop her. Susannah York played Heston's assistant-turned-wife, Jill Townsend played Heston's ex-wife and mother of Zimbalist, and there were smaller roles for Ian McDiarmid and Miriam Margolyes. Even in 1980, opening your horror movie Halloween night wasn't a sign of confidence. This was the feature film debut of director Mike Newell, who would go on to have a mixed, if generally successful career.
Director: Mike Newell
New Limited Releases:
Bad Timing: A Sensual Obsession--NA/NA/50%/NA--Telling the story, mostly in flashback, of the extremely destructive relationship between a psychiatrist (Art Garfunkel--yes, that Art Garfunkel--making his first acting appearance in a theatrical release since 1971's Carnal Knowledge) and a much younger woman (Theresa Russell), whom Garfunkel becomes dangerously obsessed with. Harvey Keitel played a police investigating a violent act involving the two, and Denholm Elliott played Russell's even older husband. This would be director Nicolas Roeg's third film in ten years to star a musician not known for acting (after Mick Jagger in Performance and David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth), and repeating to some extent the film's storyline, Roeg would end up marrying the 30-years-younger Russell.
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Halloween--NA/NA/96%/87--After a year littered with rip-offs, many of which were still playing in theaters, audiences on Halloween could once again check out Halloween, still easily the best of the wave of late 70s/early 80s slasher movies. It likely also helped drum up some advance publicity for the return of Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance in Halloween II, which would come out in time for Halloween 1981.
Director: Rick Rosenthal
Expanding:
The Stunt Man
No comments:
Post a Comment