While March would eventually become a hot month in which to release movies, before 2000 it was generally a backwater on the schedule. So enjoy this mix of pre-summer blockbusters, cult hits, and the utterly forgettable.
One Year Ago--March 27, 2020:
#1 Movie:
Onward
New Steaming Releases:
Crip Camp--100%/86--Executive produced by the Obamas, this acclaimed documentary looked at the alumni of upstate New York's Camp Jened, which was designed for people with disabilities, and how the experience nurtured some of the campers to become activists in the 1970s in the burgeoning disabled rights movements. Nearly a year after its release, it would be Oscar nominated for Documentary Feature.
Director: James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham
Five Years Ago--March 25, 2016:
New Wide Releases:
Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice--1/$166 million/$330.4 million/8/29%/44--DC's second step in copying the Marvel formula had Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) manipulate Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) into fighting each other, at least until they learn each other's mother's name. Returning from Man of Steel are Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane and Kevin Costner as the Kents, and Laurence Fishburne as Perry White. Newcomers include Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Holly Hunter as a senator, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, and loads and loads of cameos, including future Justice League members Ezra Miller, Ray Fisher, and Jason Momoa. Critics found the whole thing way too long and way too loud and way too confusing, and after a huge opening, attendance dropped like a rock, to the point that its final gross couldn't quite double its opening weekend. Nevertheless, Zack Snyder released a director's cut with another half hour of material, and the DCU rolled on with Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, and Justice League in the next two years.
Director: Zack Snyder
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2--3/$17.9 million/$59.7 million/55/27%/37--14 years after the original became one of the most surprising smash hits in cinematic history, Nia Vardalos reassembled most of the original cast for yet another titular occurrence, this time for her parents (Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan), after they discovered their original marriage was never official. John Corbett once again played Vardalos's husband, Andrea Martin and Joey Fatone returned as her aunt and cousin, Alex Wolff played the love interest of Vardalos and Corbett's teenage daughter (Elena Kampouris), and John Stamos and producer Rita Wilson cameo as another Greek couple. While the film did decently, it didn't come close to the grosses of the 2002 original.
Director: Kirk Jones
New Limited Releases:
The Lobster--$9.1 million*/154*/87%/82--Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, who got a Foreign Language Film nomination for his decidedly weird 2009 satire Dogtooth, made his English language debut with this decidedly weird romcom. Taking place in a world where single people are transformed into animals if they don't find a partner within 45 days, Colin Ferrell stays at a fancy hotel hoping to find someone before he has to become the titular creature. Rachel Weisz played a potential love interest, Léa Seydoux played a rebel leader, Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly played fellow hotel guests, and Olivia Colman, who would win an Oscar a few years later for Lanthimos's The Favorite, played the hotel manager. As odd as it all was, critics really liked it, and it did well in art houses. It would be Oscar nominated for Original Screenplay.
*For whatever reason, the U.S. and Canadian grosses are counted seperately in Box Office Mojo's database. The total listed is the combined North American gross. The position is for the U.S. release only. The Canadian release was the 300th highest-grossing film of 2016.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Expanding:
Hello, My Name is Doris--9/$1.7 million
Ten Years Ago--April 1, 2011:
New Wide Releases:
Hop--1/$37.5 million/$108.1 million/25/24%/41--There are tons of Christmas movies, quite a few Halloween movies, a handful of Thanksgiving movies, but outside of Easter Parade and some movies about the death and/or resurrection of Christ, there are precious few Easter movies. This movie hops into that dearth, about the son of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russell Brand, who also has a live-action cameo) who decides he'd rather be a rock drummer than take over the family business. He ends up hooking up with James Marsden (one of the very few actors who can claim that they played the live-action sidekick to an obnoxious CGI animal in two unrelated films), who decides he wants to be the Easter Bunny himself. Meanwhile, an evil chick (voiced by Hank Azaria) is plotting to take over Easter. Hugh Laurie voiced the Easter Bunny, and appearing in live action were Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins as Marsden's parents, Kaley Cuoco as his sister, and David Hasselhoff as himself. Reviews were largely terrible, but the box office was decent, proving that there was an audience for Easter movies (though, other than religious titles, there hasn't been one since).
Director: Tim Hill
Source Code--2/$14.8 million/$54.7 million/62/92%/74--A soldier (Jake Gyllenhaal) discovers he's part of an experiment in time travel to go back and figure out who blew up a commuter train, though since the incident is in the past, he would be unable to prevent it from happening. Michelle Monaghan played a train passenger that Gyllenhaal strikes up a relationship with, Vera Farmiga played the military officer in charge of the experiment, and Jeffrey Wright played a scientist. The thriller was highly acclaimed and did decent business.
Director: Duncan Jones
Insidious--3/$13.3 million/$54 million/64/66%/52--The Saw team of director James Wan and screenwriter/actor Leigh Whannell had another surprise, franchise-starting hit in this PG-13 horror thriller about a couple (Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson, who would go on to star in Wan's next horror franchise, The Conjuring) who discover that the soul of their comatose young son (Ty Simpkins) is in fact trapped in the spirit realm, and that malevolent forces are attempting to use his body to invade the living world. Barbara Hershey played Wilson's mother, Lin Shaye a paranormal expert, and writer Whannell as one of her assistants. This got surprisingly good reviews and would go on to spawn three sequels.
Director: James Wan
The King's Speech--15/$1.1 million/$3.3 million/169/94%/88--Every decade or so, a movie studio will get the bright idea to edit a R-rated hit down to a more family-friendly PG-13 in the hopes of attracting the family audience that might have passed on the original, R-rated version. The recent Best Picture winner at the Oscars got that fate in early 2011, with the Weinstein Company muting all but a couple of Colin Firth's muttered f-bombs. As it turned out, audiences aren't like the MPAA, who find a couple of uses of that word perfectly fine for middle school ears but any more than that to be damaging. After a brief run, the PG-13 version disappeared, with only the original, R-rated version being released for home viewing.
Director: Tom Hooper
New Limited Releases:
In a Better World--$1 million/212/78%/65--This Danish drama concerns a father (Mikael Persbrandt), a doctor who works at a field hospital in a refugee camp in Sudan, possibly at the expense of his marriage, and his pre-teen son (Markus Rygaard) back home, a target for bullies until he befriends a slightly older boy (William Jøhnk Juel Nielsen) still angry about his mother's recent death. Despite good, but not great, reviews, this would win the Oscar for Foreign Language Film shortly before the film's North American release. Despite the Oscar, it would do mediocre business in the U.S.
Director: Susanne Bier
Fifteen Years Ago--March 31, 2006:
New Wide Releases:
Ice Age: The Meltdown--1/$68 million/$195.3 million/8/57%/60--The first follow-up to 2002's hit animated comedy Ice Age sees wooly mammoth Manny (voiced by Ray Romano) discover he's not the last of his kind when he meets a female mammoth (Queen Latifah) who thinks she's a possum. Their romance could be short-lived, however, as the valley they're living in could be about to flood. Returning from the first film was John Leguizamo as a giant sloth and Denis Leary as a saber-toothed tiger. Newcomers include Josh Peck and Seann William Scott as Latifah's possum brothers, and Will Arnett, Jay Leno, and Alan Tudyk voicing various creatures. While the first film had been both a critical and commercial success, this one got considerably worse reviews, but made even more money. Three more films would follow over the next decade.
Director: Carlos Saldanha
ATL--3/$11.6 million/$21.2 million/114/62%/63--Rapper T.I. made his film debut (credited as Tip Harris) in this coming of age drama, playing a high school senior whose new romance with a mysterious girl (Lauren London, also making her film debut) causes his younger brother (Evan Ross, also making his film debut) to drift into the orbit of a drug dealer (rapper Big Boi, credited as Antwan André Patton, also making his film debut). Keith David (not making his film debut) played London's father, and Mykelti Williamson (also not making his film debut) played T.I. and Ross's uncle. There were cameos by several musicians, including Monica, Bone Crusher, and Killer Mike. Reviews were decent, but the film was extremely front-loaded, as it failed to double its opening weekend gross.
Director: Chris Robinson
Slither--8/$3.9 million/$7.8 million/164/86%/69--This horror-comedy, the directorial debut of James Gunn, starred Nathan Fillion as the police chief in a small town that is taken over by parasitic alien slugs. Michael Rooker played the unfortunate first victim of the slugs, and Elizabeth Banks played his wife, who teamed up with Fillion to battle the invasion. Despite getting great reviews, especially for a horror film, audiences largely avoided the film in theaters, though it has since become a cult hit.
Director: James Gunn
Basic Instinct 2--10/$3.2 million/$6 million/177/6%/26--Sharon Stone, the only cast member to return from the original from 14 years earlier, reprises her role as possibly psychopathic novelist Catherine Trammell, who, after "accidently" killing her soccer star boyfriend (Stan Collymore) in a London car crash, comes under the care of shrink David Morrissey, who quickly becomes a pawn to Stone, just as Michael Douglas did in the first one. David Thewlis played a Scotland Yard investigator, Charlotte Rampling played Morrissey's colleague, and Hugh Dancy played a journalist. Reviews were unanimously awful, and the film made only a fraction of what the first film had done.
Director: Michael Caton-Jones
Twenty Years Ago--March 30, 2001:
New Wide Releases:
Spy Kids--1/$26.6 million/$112.7 million/17/93%/71--Low-budget action master Robert Rodriguez, whose previous films had all be rated R, took a sharp turn to family town with this PG-rated action adventure, perhaps the most surreal kids movie since The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, in which a pair of pre-teens (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara, the latter making his feature film debut) discover that their parents (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) are spies, and have been captured by a demented children's show host (Alan Cumming). Among the good guys were Cheech Marin and Danny Trejo (who may or may not have been playing the same character he'd eventually play in Machete), and the bad guys included Tony Shaloub, Robert Patrick, and Teri Hatcher. There were cameos from Lewis Black, Dick Clark, George Clooney, and Rodriguez's fellow Austin-based directors Mike Judge and Richard Linklater. The film would prove to be a solid hit, both critically and commercially, and would be followed by three sequels and a Netflix animated series.
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Someone Like You--2/$10 million/$27.3 million/84/42%/32--After the success of Double Jeopardy, Ashley Judd went on to star in a series of poorly received, generic projects like this one, a rather complicated romcom in which Judd is in love with Greg Kinnear, who is waffling between her and his ex, while she's trying not to have feelings for womanizer Hugh Jackman. Ellen Barkin played the talk show host all three of them work for, and Marisa Tomei played Judd's best friend. Despite the strong cast, this was largely ignored.
Director: Tony Goldwyn
Tomcats--4/$6.4 million/$13.6 million/122/14%/15--This raunchy, gross-out comedy starred Jerry O'Connell as a guy who, for convoluted plot reasons, stands to inherit a small fortune, but only if he can get womanizer Jake Busey married. He recruits Busey's ex Shannon Elizabeth into his scheme. Hijinks ensure. Horaito Sanz and Jamie Pressly played friends of O'Connell, David Ogden Stiers played a doctor, Bill Maher played a casino boss, and 6-year-old Dakota Fanning made her film debut in a tiny role. Hopes that fans of Elizabeth, who turned out for her previous raunchy comedies Scary Movie and American Pie, would turn out for this one were dashed.
Director: Gregory Poirier
New Limited Releases:
The Tailor of Panama--$13.7 million/119/77%/66--Pierce Brosnan was still the incumbent James Bond when he played a considerably less heroic British agent in this adaption of John LeCarre's spy novel. After having been assigned to Panama, he convinces a debt-ridden tailor (Gefforey Rush) with an impressive client list to start passing on what information he gets from his customers. Naturally, things eventually spiral out of control. Jamie Lee Curtis played Rush's unsuspecting wife, Brendan Gleeson a friend of Rush's, playwright Harold Pinter as Rush's uncle, Catherine McCormack as a British Embassy worker, small roles for Martin Ferrero, Jon Polito, Dylan Baker, and Jonathan Hyde, and 11-year-old Daniel Radcliffe, making his feature film debut as Rush's and Curtis's son (Radcliffe's presence got some attention as he had been announced to play Harry Potter a few months before this film opened). Despite the film's critical and commercial success, this remains the last film to date directed by veteran director John Boorman to get a major U.S. theatrical release.
Director: John Boorman
Amores Perros--$5.4 million/146/93%/83--Alejandro G. Iñárritu made his feature film directorial debut with this drama, which tells the intertwined stories of three people whose lives are connected by a car crash. Gael García Bernal made his film debut as a teenager who gets involved in underground dog fighting, Goya Toledo played a fashion model whose career is derailed by a leg injury, and Emilio Echevarría played a hitman trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter. The film was highly acclaimed, and got Mexico an Oscar nomination for Foreign Language Film at the awards held the weekend before its American release.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Twenty-Five Years Ago--March 29, 1996:
#1 Movie:
The Birdcage--$10.1 million
New Wide Releases:
Sgt. Bilko--2/$8.1 million/$30.4 million/53/31%/47--Steve Martin channels Phil Silvers in this adaption of the latter's old TV series, about a conman Army officer (Martin) who has to do battle with a unscrupulous inspector (Phil Hartman) determined to bring him down. Dan Ackroyd played Martin's commanding officer, Glenne Headly his longtime fiancée, and Pamela Adlon, Austin Pendleton, Chris Rock, Max Casella, and Daryl Mitchell as various soldiers. The second military comedy of the spring featuring a Saturday Night Live star as a villain, this slightly outgrossed Down Periscope, though its final take was still rather disappointing.
Director: Jonathan Lynn
Oliver & Company--4/$4.5 million/$20.9 million/79/50%/58--Disney's re-release of their 1988 animated musical, which was a modern-day, New York City-set riff on Oliver Twist with animals in the major roles, seemed like an odd choice for a re-release, given that it wasn't particularly well-regarded, especially in comparison to what followed. But there was enough of an audience to earn this a bit of money during a rather slow period in family films. At least it did a lot better than the competing animated film of that weekend. It's also notable for being one of Disney's first animated features with a cast of famous voices, including Billy Joel, Cheech Marin, Richard Mulligan, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia, Bette Midler, and 12-year-old Joey Lawrence.
Director: George Scribner
A Family Thing--6/$3 million/$10.1 million/125/73%/71--When his mother died, an aging Arkansas redneck (Robert Duvall) is shocked to learn that he was actually adopted, and his birth mother was Black. Upon his mother's wishes, he heads to Chicago to meet the half-brother (James Earl Jones) he never knew he had. Irma P. Hall played Jones's and Duvall's aunt, Michael Beach played Jones's son, Regina Taylor Beach's wife, and Grace Zabriskie Duvall's wife. Billy Bob Thornton, who would come to prominence at the end of the year with Sling Blade, co-wrote the script. Despite the stellar careers of the two leads and the solid reviews, this attracted little attention from audiences.
Director: Richard Pearce
All Dogs Go to Heaven 2--9/$2.3 million/$8.6 million/133/20%/NA--60 years after the events of the first All Dogs Go to Heaven, a moderate hit during the 1989 holidays, Charlie the dog (Charlie Sheen, taking over for Burt Reynolds) returns to Earth with his friend (Dom DeLuise, one of the few voice actors back from the first film) to retrieve Gabriel's horn from his arch-nemesis (Ernest Borgnine). Others providing voices included Bebe Neuwirth, Dan Castellaneta, Wallace Shawn, and George Hearn. That this ended up grossing less than half of what the 7-year-old Oliver & Company (which also co-starred DeLuise) did is rather embarrassing, though I suspect all involved knew the big money would be on home video. This would be followed by a short-lived TV series and a straight-to-video Christmas movie.
Director: Larry Leker and Paul Sabella
Thirty Years Ago--March 29, 1991:
#1 Movie:
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze--$13.1 million
New Wide Releases:
Career Opportunities--4/$4 million/$11.3 million/90/NA/41--The first John Hughes production since Home Alone (still in the Top Ten 20 weeks into its run) seemed to be a straight-up recycling of that film, mixed with elements of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. A hapless teenager (Frank Whaley) on his first night as the custodian at a local Target discovers that rich girl Jennifer Connelly has gotten herself locked in the store with him. As the two bond, they have to foil a robbery by two hapless crooks (real-life brothers Dermot and Kieran Mulroney, not playing brothers). Noble Willingham played Connelly's father, and Barry Corbin played a cop. Despite Hughes's name, audiences avoided it in droves.
Director: Bryan Gordon
The Five Heartbeats--10/$1.6 million/$8.8 million/103/39%/NA--Robert Townsend wrote (with Keenen Ivory Waynes), directed, and starred in this drama charting the rise and fall of a Temptations-like group (Townsend, Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, Tico Wells, Harry J. Lennox) from the 1960s to the then-present day. Diahann Carroll played the wife of their manager (Chuck Patterson), and legendary tap dancer Harold Nicholas played their choreographer. Reviews were mixed, which probably led to the small audience.
Director: Robert Townsend
Thirty-Five Years Ago--March 28, 1986:
#1 Movie:
Police Academy 3: Back in Training--$5.8 million
New Wide Releases:
The Money Pit--2/$5.3 million/$37.5 million/28/50%/49--In this loose remake of the Cary Grant comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Tom Hanks and Shelley Long purchase a seemingly lovely mansion at a fire sale cost from a woman (Maureen Stapleton) who claims she has to sell quickly, only to discover too late that the place is falling apart and it will cost a fortune to fix up. Joe Mantegna and Philip Bosco played contractors, Alexander Godunov played Long's ex-husband, and smaller roles for familiar character actors Josh Mostel, Yakov Smirnoff, Carmine Caridi, Wendell Pierce, Mary Louise Wilson, Mike Starr, Frankie Faison, Michael Jeter, and Tzi Ma. Critics were mixed, but the film did decent business.
Director: Richard Benjamin
April Fool's Day--4/$3.4 million/$13 million/65/55%/49--This spoofy throwback to the holiday slasher craze of the late 70s and early 80s (which had largely died out by 1986) has a group of college friends (including Thomas F. Wilson) arriving at the isolated island mansion of Deborah Foreman, where they begin to disappear one by one. As the title hints, Nothing Is As It Seems. Critics were rather kind to the film, liking the twists and turns, and while not a major hit, it did decent business. A loose remake went straight-to-video in 2008.
Director: Fred Walton
New Limited Releases:
Lucas--$8.2 million/81/71%/75--The third, and easily the best received, of the high school football comedies of early 1986, this starred Corey Haim as the nerdy titular high school kid who falls for Kerri Green, who unfortunately only sees him as a friend and falls herself for his older, football-playing friend Charlie Sheen, which prompts Haim to go out for football himself. Winona Ryder made her film debut as another friend of Haim, as did Courtney Thorne-Smith as Sheen's ex-girlfriend, as did Jeremy Piven as a bully, as did Gary Cole (other than an uncredited role in To Live and Die in L.A. the previous fall) as a coach. Despite the solid reviews, this didn't do that well, though it has since become a cult hit.
Director: David Seltzer
Ginger and Fred--$0.8 million/172/83%/NA--One of the final films of Federico Fellini, and the last one that would get a timely American release, this starred Marcello Mastroianni and Fellini's wife Giulietta Masina as a couple who had grown famous in the 1930s for their perfect re-creations of the dance routines of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Years after their retirement, they are reunited to appear on a TV show. Reviews were strong, but the film ran into controversary when Rogers sued, upset that her name was used in the film's title without permission (she lost).
Director: Federico Fellini
Forty Years Ago--March 27, 1981:
New Wide Releases:
Thief--$11.5 million/62/94%/78--Michael Mann made a highly acclaimed feature film directorial debut with this thriller about a professional thief (James Caan) who agrees to do one last job for a mobster (Robert Prosky) before retiring to be with his girlfriend (Tuesday Weld). James Belushi had his first credited film role as Caan's friend, Dennis Farina also made his film debut as an enforcer for Prosky, William Petersen, who would go on to star in Mann's Manhunter five years later, also made his first film appearance as a bartender, and Willie Nelson played Caan's mentor. Even though the film wasn't a big success, it would go on to become a cult hit, especially after Mann's directorial career was established.
Director: Michael Mann
New Limited Releases:
The Earthling--NA/NA/NA/NA--Not to be confused with space alien comedy Earthbound (which was also playing in various cities across the country at the time), this adventure drama starred William Holden, in his next-to-last performance, as a man with cancer who travels to the Australian Outback to die. There, he is forced to take responsibility for a freshly orphaned child (Ricky Schroder), stuck in the wilderness. The two bond as they make their way to Holden's final resting place. The film didn't do much business, nor attract much critical attention, despite the presence of Holden, but would become a cult hit.
Director: Peter Collinson
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