After a fallow January, in which Christmas releases play out and the new films tend to be fairly bad, early-to-mid February usually sees the first set of blockbusters since the holidays.
One Year Ago--February 7, 2020:
New Wide Releases:
Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)--1/$33 million/$84.2 million/3/78%/60--Margot Robie's Harley Quinn, the one thing of Suicide Squad most people liked, got her own spin-off movie, as, post breakup with the Joker (who does not make an appearance, as either Jared Leto or Joquam Phoenix) she discovers she is vulnerable to the many people she's angered over the years, most particularly mob boss Ewan McGregor, who is also after a valuable diamond for plot reasons. Eventually, she reluctantly joins forces with a Gotham City police officer (Rosie Perez), McGregor's dissatisfied driver (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) and a vigilante (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) to take down McGregor. Despite strong reviews, this was an unexpected flop, making only a fraction of previous R-rated superhero movies Joker and Deadpool, and woman-based superhero movies Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel had made.
Director: Cathy Yan
Five Years Ago--February 5, 2016:
#1 Movie:
Kung Fu Panda 3--$21.2 million
New Wide Releases:
Hail, Caesar!--2/$11.4 million/89/$30.5 million/85%/72--The Coens directed this all-star Hollywood comedy starring Josh Brolin as a studio "fixer" in the early 50s who has to deal with one star (George Clooney) whose been kidnapped by Communists, another (Scarlett Johansson) who has become pregnant, a third (Alden Ehrenreich) who has been badly miscast, and a fourth (Channing Tatum) who may be in on the kidnapping, not to mention a pair of gossip columnists (Tilda Swinton and Tilda Swinton) who are looking for any dirt they can find. Also in the cast was Ralph Finnes as a director, Frances McDormand (who is, of course, married to Joel Coen) as an editor, Jonah Hill as an insurance agent, Christopher Lambert as another director, Dolph Lundgren as a submarine captain, and appearances by such familiar faces as Wayne Knight, Fred Melamed, David Krumholtz, Fisher Stevens, Clancy Brown, and Robet Picardo, with Micahel Gambon providing the narration. Despite terrific reviews, this only did so-so business, but the Production Design would be Oscar nominated.
Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
The Choice--5/$6.1 million/$18.7 million/111/11%/26--In yet another Nicholas Sparks adaption, new neighbors Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer find themselves falling for each other, even though they're already in relationships with Alexandra Daddairo and Tom Welling respectively. Will they end up together? Of course they do! Will tragedy strike? Of course it will! Tom Wilkinson played Palmer's father. This pretty much satisfied fans of the book and no one else.
Director: Ross Katz
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies--6/$5.3 million/$10.9 million/133/46%/45--Exactly what it says on the tin. In an England overrun by zombies, Elizabeth Bennett (Lily James) not only is looking for a proper husband, she's also a skilled zombie fighter. Among her suiters are Sam Riley, Jack Huston, and Matt Smith, with Charles Dance as Bennett's father and Lena Headey as Lady Catherine. Critics weren't that amused, and neither were audiences.
Director: Burr Steers
New Limited Releases:
The Club--$0.05 million/460/88%/73--This Chilean drama concerns four former priests, all living together in a secluded beach house, who have been sent there by the church for the past sins in their lives. Their routine is interrupted by the arrival of a new priest, whose own sins are dramatically revealed by one of his victims. Despite excellent reviews, this failed to make an impact even in art house theaters.
Director: Pablo Larrain
Ten Years Ago--February 11, 2011:
New Wide Releases:
Just Go With It--1/$30.5 million/$103 million/27/19%/33--During his prime (and even afterwards), Adam Sandler had a knack for getting movie companies to pick up the tab for the exotic vacations he'd take with his friends. All they had to do was throw together a movie shoot between lounges on the beach. That's probably the best explanation for this romcom, a remake of the 60s comedy Cactus Flower. Sandler played a plastic surgeon who pretends to be unhappily married to get women to sleep with him. That backfires when he finds himself falling for Brooklyn Decker and she insists on meeting his wife. He gets his office manager Jennifer Aniston to pose as her, and for reasons too silly to explain, everyone ends up in Hawaii. Nicole Kidman played Aniston's longtime rival, musician Dave Matthews pops up in his third Sandler film as her husband, Minka Kelly (also in The Roommate, the previous week's #1 movie), played a girl Sandler picks up at a bar, Keegan-Michael Key played a hair stylist, and there were appearances by Sander's friend Kevin Neelon, Rachel Dratch, Nick Swardson, Allen Covert, and sportscaster Dan Patrick. Critics, of course, hated it, but the film also underperformed, which hinted at the trouble coming for Sandler's career.
Director: Dennis Dugan
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never--2/$29.5 million/$73 million/50/65%/52--Ten years ago, before the tattoos and the arrest and the generally obnoxious behavior, teenage Canadian singer Justin Bieber, still spouting his old bowl cut, was considered about as wholesome and harmless as a glass of milk. His legions of teen and pre-teen girl fans turned out in force for this concert film/behind-the-scenes documentary, shot in 3D. Among the cameos and appearances and interview subjects are Bieber's mentor Usher, Boyz II Men, Miley Cyrus, Ludacris, Jaden Smith, and Snoop Dogg. A much less successful sequel, Justin Bieber: Believe, would come out in 2013.
Director: Jon M. Chu
Gnomeo & Juliet--3/$25.4 million/$100 million/31/55%/53--As the title suggests, this is an animated riff on Romeo & Juliet, except with garden gnomes. Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) meet and fall in love, but of course, to quote another Shakespeare play, the course of true love never did run smooth. In addition to doing considerably better than these second-tier animated movies usually do, it also attracted a much better cast than they usually get, including Michael Caine, Jason Statham, Maggie Smith, Stephen Merchant, Julie Walters, Patrick Stewart, Ozzy Osbourne, and Dolly Parton. A sequel, Sherlock Gnomes, would follow in 2018.
Director: Kelly Asbury
The Eagle--4/$8.7 million/$19.5 million/120/39%/55--In this action movie set in Roman-controlled Britain, former soldier Channing Tatum, discharged after being injured in battle, sets out for the north of the island to retrieve the eagle standard of his father's regiment from the native tribes that defeated them decades earlier. Jamie Bell played Tatum's slave, Donald Sutherland Tatum's uncle, and Mark Strong a former legionnaire who knew Tatum's father. Reviews weren't great, and audiences weren't interested, even with Tatum.
Director: Kevin Macdonald
New Limited Releases:
Cedar Rapids--$6.9 million/149/86%/70--Naïve small-town insurance agent Ed Helms is sent to the bustling metropolis of Cedar Rapids to a convention, where he befriends wild man John C. Reilly, exactly the person his boss (Stephen Root) warned him to stay away from, in this indie comedy. Anne Heche and Isiah Whitlock, Jr. play other conventioneers that Helms befriends, Kurtwood Smith played the convention's head, Alia Shawkat played a hooker, Mike O'Malley and Helms's Daily Show colleague Rob Corddry played other conventiongoers, and Sigourney Weaver played Helms's old teacher who now has a more adult relationship with him. Critics liked the film, and it did well on the art house circuit, though it was unable to break out into mainstream theaters.
Director: Miguel Arteta
The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2011: Live Action--$1.4 million/198/NA/NA--The contenders for this year were the comedy-drama Wish 143, the comedy The Crush, another comedy, Na Wewe, the fantasy God of Love, and the drama The Confession.
Director: Ian Barnes (Wish 143), Michael Creagh (The Crush), Ivan Goldschmidt (Na Wewe), Luke Matheny (God of Love), Tanel Toom (The Confession)
Fifteen Years Ago--February 10, 2006:
New Wide Releases:
The Pink Panther--1/$20.2 million/$82.2 million/26/21%/38--Steve Martin attempted to step into Peter Sellers's shoes in this remake/reboot of the comedic heist series, which was quite popular in the mid-to-late 70s (and quite unpopular without Sellers, as three attempts to carry on the franchise after his death all flopped). Martin's Inspector Clouseau is assigned to solve the murder of the French national team's soccer coach (Jason Statham, uncredited) and the theft of his priceless Pink Panther diamond. Hijinks ensure. Beyoncé played Statham's pop star girlfriend-turned-suspect, Jean Reno is another detective assigned to work with Martin, Emily Mortimer played Martin's secretary/love interest, Kristin Chenoweth played a soccer team employee, Clive Owen also appeared uncredited as a British secret agent, and Kevin Kline played the frustrated Chief Inspector. It didn't take much detective work to discover critics hated this, but it proved to be a moderate box office hit. A sequel would follow in 2009.
Director: Shawn Levy
Final Destination 3--$20.1 million/$54.1 million/60/43%/41--In the latest installment of the "Death kills accident survivors via Rube Goldberg methods" horror series, Mary Elizabeth Winstead gets a vision that a roller coaster is about to crash and so survives, but Death wants her and her friends (including Ryan Merriman) anyway. This one slightly outgrossed the original from 2000 to become the highest-grossing entry in the franchise to that time, though 2009's The Final Destination would outgross them both.
Director: James Wong
Curious George--3/$14.7 million/$58.4 million/54/70%/62--The titular monkey, whose book series had been a staple of pre-school literature since the first one was released in 1941, made his feature film debut in this animated tale, in which the monkey (voiced by famed vocal artist Frank Welker) helps the Man in the Yellow Hat (Will Ferrell) save the museum he works for. Producer Ron Howard was able to recruit a stellar vocal cast, including David Cross, Eugene Levy, Dick Van Dyke, Joan Plowright, and Drew Barrymore. The film was a moderate hit, and spawned a TV show and several straight-to-DVD sequels.
Director: Matthew O'Callaghan
Firewall--4/$13.6 million/$48.8 million/64/18%/45--In this unsuccessful technothriller, Harrison Ford played the head of security at a bank who is taken hostage by Paul Bettany, who wants him to secretly transfer millions of dollars into Bettany's account, or else he'll kill Ford's family (including wife Virginia Madsen). Mary-Lynn Rajskub played Ford's secretary, Robert Patrick and Robert Forster played Ford's work colleagues, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau played a henchman, and Alan Arkin played the head of the bank. Despite the awful reviews, this would actually be Ford's highest-grossing non-Indiana Jones film between What Lies Beneath and Cowboys and Aliens.
Director: Richard Loncraine
Twenty Years Ago--February 9, 2001:
New Wide Releases:
Hannibal--1/$58 million/$165.1 million/12/40%/57--Opening almost exactly ten years after The Silence of the Lambs, this much anticipated sequel (directed by Ridley Scott, in his first film since Gladiator) has Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) living quietly in Florence, until one of his surviving victims (Gary Oldman, unrecognizable under lots of makeup and going unbilled) gets FBI agent Clarice Starling (Julianne Moore, replacing Jodie Foster) reassigned to the case. Meanwhile, a local cop (Giancarlo Giannini) thinks he recognizes Lecter and hopes to collect the large reward for his capture. Zelkjo Ivanek played Oldman's doctor, Frankie R. Faison reprised his role as the former orderly at the hospital that housed Lecter, and Ray Liotta played a justice department official. Critics were largely underwhelmed, thinking the film lapsed into Grand Guignol excesses frequently. Still, the film was a sizable hit. Hopkins would reprise the role of Lecter only a year and a half later with the prequel Red Dragon.
Director: Ridley Scott
Saving Silverman--3/$7.4 million/$19.4 million/103/19%/22--When Jason Biggs (the Silverman of the title) gets engaged to the uber-controlling Amanda Peet, his two best friends Jack Black and Steve Zahn (who are both supposed to be the same age as Biggs, despite them clearly being a decade older) plot to rescue him from the relationship, whether he wants to be rescued or not. R. Lee Emory played the guys' former high school coach, Black's musical partner Kyle Gass has a cameo as a bar patron, and Neil Diamond, in only his second movie appearance since The Jazz Singer twenty years earlier, played himself. This marked Biggs's third straight post-American Pie bomb. Luckily, American Pie 2 would be out that summer.
Director: Dennis Dugan
Expanding:
O Brother, Where Art Thou?--9/$3.1 million
Twenty-Five Years Ago--February 9, 1996:
New Wide Releases:
Broken Arrow--1/$15.6 million/$70.1 million/20/52%/61--John Travolta kicked off a successful 1996 with this John Woo-directed thriller, in which he played an Air Force major who decides to steal two nuclear warheads, planning to blackmail the US government for millions. Christian Slater (whose January film Bed of Roses was already almost out of theaters) played Travolta's protégé, who tries to stop him with the help of a US park ranger (Samantha Mathis, reteaming with Slater six years after Pump Up the Volume). Delroy Lindo (who had worked with Travolta in Get Shorty the previous fall) played Travolta and Slater's commanding officer, Frank Whaley (who had been killed by Travolta in Pulp Fiction) played a military advisor, Howie Long played one of Travolta's henchmen, and Kurtwood Smith, Vondie Curtis-Hall, and Daniel von Bargen played various military types.
Director: John Woo
Beautiful Girls--7/$2.8 million/$10.6 million/122/79%/64--This rather busy comedy-drama starred Timothy Hutton as a musician coming back to his hometown for his high school reunion, and getting involved in the complicated love lives of his friends who never left, which included Matt Dillon, Noah Emmerich, and Michael Rappaport. Playing various wives, friends, and girlfriends were Annabeth Gish, Lauren Holly, Rosie O'Donnell, Martha Plimpton, Mira Sorvino, and Uma Thurman. David Arquette played Hutton's brother, and 14-year-old Natalie Portman played a local girl that the 20-something Hutton finds himself attracted to. Despite the strong ensemble cast the film ended up bombing (that sketchy storyline probably didn't help). A decade later, it would be followed by the short-lived TV series October Road.
Director: Ted Demme
Expanding:
Leaving Las Vegas--5/$3.3 million
Thirty Years Ago--February 8, 1991:
New Wide Releases:
Sleeping With the Enemy--1/$13.8 million/$101.6 million/8/20%/48--Julia Roberts proved her superstardom with the success of this thriller, in which she was pretty much the only reason to go see it. She played a woman in a seemingly perfect marriage to Patrick Bergin, who is secretly an abusive control freak. After faking her death, she starts her life over in a bucolic small town, but Bergin figures out the truth and comes after her. Critics scoffed, but audiences made it the first blockbuster of 1991 (ending Home Alone's 12-week reign on top of the box office in the process).
Director: Joseph Ruben
L.A. Story--2/$6.6 million/$28.9 million/46/94%/46--Steve Martin wrote and starred in this somewhat surrealistic comedy, playing a TV weatherman (in a place where the weather almost never changes) who has grown bored with his life when he meets a charming British woman (Martin's then-wife Victoria Tennant) and is encouraged to peruse a relationship with her by a freeway road condition sign. Sarah Jessica Parker (making her first theatrical movie since 1986's Flight of the Navigator) played the ditzy young woman Martin has a fling with, Richard E. Grant played a friend of Martin's who also has a connection with Tennant, Marilu Henner played Martin's longtime, unfaithful girlfriend, Kevin Pollack played another friend of Martin's, and there were cameos by Patrick Stewart, Chevy Chase, Rick Moranis, Woody Harrelson, Paula Abdul, Iman, and Terry Jones. Critics really liked the film, but audiences were considerably more lukewarm toward it.
Director: Mick Jackson
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter--4/$4.9 million/$17.4 million/69/14%/30--In this unnecessary sequel (though why would a never-ending story need a sequel?) to the 1984 cult hit, Jonathan Brandis (who took over for the original's Barret Oliver, who had retired from acting and had outgrown the role anyway) returns to Fantasia, where he has to battle an evil sorceress (Clarissa Burt) who wants to take over the land. John Wesley Shipp played Brandis's father. The film was accompanied in its release by Box Office Bunny, the first new theatrical Bugs Bunny cartoon since 1964. It didn't help the box office much. A third film would be released in Germany in 1994 and go straight-to-video in the U.S. in 1996.
Director: George Miller (the Man From Snowy River director, not the Mad Max director)
New Limited Releases:
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead--$0.7 million/185/61%/NA--Tom Stoppard directed this adaption of his own play, which follows two minor Hamlet characters (Tim Roth and Gary Oldman) as the rest of that play is happening around them, while they try to figure out what's going on and what their purpose is. Richard Dreyfuss played the Lead Player of the acting troupe. While reviews were decent, the most common complaint is that it was unable to escape feeling stage-bound.
Director: Tom Stoppard
Thirty-Five Years Ago--February 7, 1986:
#1 Movie:
Down and Out in Beverly Hills--$6.1 million
New Wide Releases:
F/X--5/$3.2 million/$20.6 million/45/88%/71--This well-received thriller starred Bryan Brown as a movie effect specialist who is hired by the FBI to stage the assassination of a mob informant (Jerry Orbach). When the agents in charge (Cliff De Young, Mason Adams) try to kill Brown, he realizes he's gotten himself involved in a dangerous conspiracy. Brian Dennehy played a NYPD cop investigating the series of murders, Diane Verona played Brown's girlfriend, Tom Noonan played a henchman, Sesame Street vet Roscoe Orman played Dennehy's commanding officer, and Angela Bassett made her feature-film debut as a reporter. The film did well enough to get a sequel in 1991 and a TV spinoff in the late 90s.
Director: Robert Mandel
Hannah and Her Sisters--10/$1.3 million/$35.4 million/30/91%/90--Both Woody Allen's most acclaimed and his highest-grossing film since the late 70s one-two punch of Annie Hall and Manhattan, this comedy-drama starred Allen's longtime partner Mia Farrow as the titular Hannah, whose husband (Michael Caine) has fallen for one of the the sisters (Barbara Hershey) while her other sister (Dianne Wiest) is struggling to both become a writer and to operate a catering business with friend Carrie Fisher. Allen played Farrow's ex-husband, who finds himself interested in Wiest, Max Von Sydow played Hershey's boyfriend, whom she cheats on with Caine, Farrow's real-life mother Maureen O'Sullivan played her mother, and there were minor roles for numerous soon-to-be stars, including Louis Black, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Julie Kavner, J.T. Walsh, John Turturro, Richard Jenkins, Fred Melamed, Joanna Gleason, and Daniel Stern, with Tony Roberts and Sam Waterson appearing uncredited. In addition, several of Farrow's children appeared, including a then-14-year-old Soon-Yi Previn. Roughly a year after the film opened, it would be nominated for seven Oscars, including Picture, Director for Allen, Art Direction, and Editing, and would go on to win three, for Allen's Original Screenplay, Caine for Supporting Actor, and Wiest for Supporting Actress.
Director: Woody Allen
Forty Years Ago--February 6, 1981:
New Wide Releases:
Fort Apache, The Bronx--$29.2 million/25/86%/49--In this very loose, then-contemporary-set remake of the 1948 western, Paul Newman played a good cop serving in a crime-ridden Bronx neighborhood, whose attempts to improve the situation comes into conflict with a new commanding officer (Ed Asner) who doesn't understand what it takes to patrol the neighborhood. Ken Wahl played Newman's partner, Danny Aiello played a bad cop, Pam Grier played a drug addict, and Rachel Ticotin as Newman's (much) younger girlfriend. In addtion, Paul Gleason and Dominic Chianese had small roles. Critics at the time were decidedly mixed on the film (though its reputation today is pretty good), but it proved to be a solid, early-year hit.
Director: Daniel Petrie
New Limited Releases:
Windwalker--NA/NA/NA/NA--British actor Trevor Howard was...let's say an interesting choice to play an elderly Cheyenne warrior in this western drama. After realizing that his family is in trouble, Howard returns from the dead to heal his injured son (Nick Ramus, who at least was Native American) and protect them from Crow warriors. Howard's role was originally supposed to be played by Native American actor Chief Dan George, but he became too ill. Outside of narration, all the dialogue is in Cheyenne or Crow.
Director: Kieth Merrill
Expanding:
Altered States
Kagemusha
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