By mid-May, the summer movie season is definitely underway, and not a moment too soon, with Memorial Day just around the corner.
One Year Ago--May 15, 2020:
#1 Movie:
Trolls World Tour (unofficially)/The Wretched (officially)
New Theatrical Releases:
Circles--$0.01 million/NA/NA/NA--This little-seen documentary followed Eric Butler, a Hurricane Katrina survivor who relocated to Oakland to work with inner-city youth in order to keep them in school and out of jail, only to have his professional and personal lives collide when his own teenage son gets arrested.
Director: Cassidy Friedman
New Streaming Releases:
Capone--40%/46--Tom Hardy became the latest to play arguably America's most notorious gangster, in this biopic that focused on the end of his life, when untreated syphilis ate away at his brain. Linda Cardellini, Matt Dillon, and Kyle MacLachlan co-starred. This was the first film from Josh Trank after his disastrous Fantastic Four remake in 2015, but reviews did little to restore his reputation, though the film proved to be a surprise hit on streaming services.
Director: Josh Trank
Scoob!--48%/43--The first major studio film to skip its entire theatrical release in favor of VOD in the wake of the pandemic, this latest reboot of the saga of America's most beloved supernatural scaredy-cat supernatural-investigating dog has Scooby (Frank Welker) kidnapped by Hanna-Barbera villain Dick Dastardly (Jason Isaacs), while Shaggy (Will Forte) teams up with incompetent H-B superhero The Blue Falcon (Mark Wahlberg) and his hyper-competent dog Dynomutt (Ken Jeong) to rescue him. Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, and Gina Rodriguez played Fred, Daphine, and Velma, respectively, and the rest of the voice cast included Kiersey Clemons, Tracy Morgan, Christina Hendricks, Henry Winkler, Justina Machado, John DiMaggio, Ira Glass, Billy West, Iain Armitage, Mckenna Grace, and Simon Cowell as himself. This got mixed reviews from critics, but was a hit on streaming services. It would eventually get a brief North American theatrical release in May 2021.
Director: Tony Cervone
Five Years Ago--May 13, 2016:
#1 Movie:
Captain America: Civil War--$72.6 million
New Wide Releases:
Money Monster--3/$14.8 million/$41 million/75/59%/55--In the middle of his live show about the stock market, a TV host (George Clooney) is taken hostage by a disgruntled investor (Jack O'Connell) whose live savings were wiped out when a company Clooney had recommended unexpectedly cratered. Feeling sympathetic toward his captor, Clooney, along with his director Julia Roberts (also starring in Mother's Day) try to figure out what exactly happened. Dominic West, Giancarlo Esposito, Condola Rashād, and Aaron Yoo co-star. This was Jodie Foster's first directorial effort since 2011's ill-fated The Beaver, and her most recent directorial credit to date. Despite the stellar names involved, critics were dismissive and audiences failed to turn out.
Director: Jodie Foster
The Darkness--4/$5 million/$10.8 million/134/3%/27--Yet another entry in the "supernatural entity terrorizes all-American family" genre, this one has Kevin Bacon and Radha Mitchell as the parents of autistic teen David Mazouz, who makes the mistake of bringing sacred stones home from a family trip, with the obligatory evil demons following close behind. Matt Walsh, Jennifer Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, and Paul Reiser co-star. Critics scoffed, and audiences largely ignored it, though the budget was low enough it actually was able to turn a small profit.
Director: Greg McLean
New Limited Releases:
Love & Friendship--$14 million/124/96%/87--Kate Beckinsale stars in this Austen adaption as a recent widow on the lookout for a new husband, preferably very wealthy. She sets her sights on the much younger Xavier Samuel, much to the chagrin of his family, who doesn't much care for her--with good reason. Chloë Sevigny and Stephen Fry co-starred. This comedy, the first film from Whit Stillman since Damsels in Distress in 2011, received near-universal raves, and was one of the biggest art house hits of the year.
Director: Whit Stillman
Ten Years Ago--May 20, 2011:
New Wide Releases:
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides--1/$90.2 million/$241.1 million/5/33%/45--The last film in the series, 2007's At World's End, seemed to wrap up the story, but Disney backed the money truck to Johnny Depp's house, so here comes the fourth installment, with Rob Marshall replacing Gore Vinbinski in the director's chair, and co-stars Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly nowhere to be seen. This installment has Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow forced to join the crew of Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and his daughter (Penelope Cruz) to search for the Fountain of Youth, ahead of Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and the Spanish. Sam Claflin, Richard Griffiths, and Keith Richards (as Jack's father) co-star. Critics found the film to be noisy and confusing, and its box office was down considerably from At World's End. Still, a fifth installment came out in 2017.
Director: Rob Marshall
New Limited Releases:
Midnight in Paris--$56.8 million/59/93%/81--Woody Allen, whose later work tended to be very hit or miss, hit big with this comedy, by far the highest-grossing film of his career (not adjusted for inflation). Owen Wilson played a modern-day writer nostalgic for the Paris of the 1920s, who somehow discovers a portal to that time, where he meets such figures as Hemingway (Corey Stoll), F. Scott (eventual Loki co-star Tom Hiddleston), and Zelda Fitzgerald (Alison Pill), Salvador Dalí (Adrien Brody), and Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates). These encounters, along with meeting a 1920s woman (Marion Cotillard) causes him to re-evaluate his relationship with his fiancée (Wilson's Wedding Crashers co-star Rachel McAdams). Michael Sheen, Nina Arianda, and Léa Seydoux co-star. The film received mostly good-to-great notices from critics, and would be nominated for four Oscars, for Picture, Director for Allen, and Art Direction, and Allen would win for his Original Screenplay (his third in that category, and fourth Oscar overall).
Director: Woody Allen
Fifteen Years Ago--May 19, 2006:
New Wide Releases:
The Da Vinci Code--1/$77.1 million/$217.5 million/5/26%/46--Tom Hanks and Ron Howard teamed up for the first time since Apollo 13 11 years prior for this adaption of Dan Brown's runaway bestseller, in which a Harvard professor (Hanks) finds himself the prime suspect in a murder at the Louvre, and teams up with a police officer (Audrey Tautou) to not only solve the murder, but figure out the earth-shattering secret that Da Vinci and others had hidden in their artwork that seemed to be the motive. Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, and Ian McKellen co-starred. Just like they did with the book, critics howled, but just like they did with the book, audiences ate it up. Hanks and Howard would go on to make two sequels, Angels & Demons in 2009 and Inferno in 2016.
Director: Ron Howard
Over the Hedge--2/$38.5 million/$155 million/11/75%/67--The second--and far more successful--environmental family film of May, this animated comedy involved a group of woodland creatures, led by a turtle (voiced by Garry Shandling) who are shocked to discover that their forest has been cut down and replaced with a housing development while they were hibernating. They join forces with a newcomer raccoon (Bruce Willis) to steal their new human neighbors' food, which raises the ire of the president of the Homeowners Association (Alison Janey) and a local exterminator (Thomas Haden Church). Steve Carrell, Wanda Sykes, Eugene Levy, his once and future co-star Catherine O'Hara, William Shatner, Avril Lavigne, and Nick Nolte provide the voices of the other animals. This was much better received by critics and audiences than the live-action Hoot, which was already largely out of theaters.
Director: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick
See No Evil--6/$4.6 million/$15 million/134/9%/17--This horror flick, produced by the WWE, attempted to turn pro wrestler Kane into the next Rock. He played a psycho killer who stalks a bunch of teens unfortunate enough to be in the abandoned hotel where he's hiding out. The fact that his next leading role came 9 years later in See No Evil 2 tells you how well those movie star ambitions worked out.
Director: Gregory Dark
New Limited Releases:
12 and Holding--$0.1 million/379/73%/65--This well-received melodrama starred Connor Donovan, Jessie Camacho, and Zoe Weizenbaum as three pre-teens dealing with numerous serious issues after Donovan's twin brother (also Donovan) is killed. Director Michael Cuesta, whose previous movie, 2001's L.I.E., also dealt with adolescents in turmoil, attracted a strong supporting cast for his indie drama, including Jeremy Renner, Annabella Sciorra, Linus Roache, Tom McGowan, Mark Linn-Baker, Merritt Weaver, and Tony Roberts. Despite the good notices, the subject matter was too bleak to attract much business, even at the art houses.
Director: Michael Cuesta
Twenty Years Ago--May 18, 2001:
New Wide Releases:
Shrek--1/$42.3 million/$267.7 million/3/88%/84--DreamWorks Animation announced themselves as a major competitor to Disney with this blockbuster, which gleefully sent up fairy tales in general and Disney's versions of them specifically. Mike Meyers voiced Shrek, a big green ogre who wants to be left alone, but ends up going on a noble quest, along with an extremely talkative talking donkey (Eddie Murphy) on behalf of the order-obsessed Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) to rescue the lovely Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) from a dragon's castle, in return for Farquaad clearing his swamp of the fairy tale creatures he had exiled to there. Critics greatly enjoyed it, and audiences turned out in droves, as this became the top movie of the summer and the second-highest grossing animated movie of all time, after The Lion King. It would receive an Oscar nomination for Adapted Screenplay (only the second animated movie, after Toy Story, to get a writing nod) and win the first Oscar for Animated Feature. Three sequels, several TV holiday specials, and a Broadway musical adaption would follow.
Director: Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson
Angel Eyes--4/$9.2 million/$24.2 million/93/33%/39--This romantic drama starred Jennifer Lopez as a police officer who finds herself intrigued by the mysterious man (Jim Caviezel) who saves her life one night, but even as they begin a relationship, he refuses to tell her any information about himself. Jeremy Sisto, Terrence Howard, Sônia Braga, and Shirley Knight co-star. The title and set-up of the movie hinted at something, but that turned out to be a red herring, to the displeasure of critics. Audiences failed to respond, as well, ending the hot streak Lopez had been on.
Director: Luis Mandoki
New Limited Releases:
Moulin Rouge!--$57.4 million/43/76%/66--In this lavish, turn-of-the-last-century-set musical, Ewan McGregor played a writer who falls for the star of the Moulin Rouge stage show (Nicole Kidman). She returns his affections, but is promised to the club's financial backer (Richard Roxburgh). Jim Broadbent and John Leguizamo co-star, plus a cameo from Kylie Minogue. Baz Luhrmann's spectacle, like A Knight's Tale and, to a lesser extent, Shrek, was a period piece where the characters broke out into modern day pop and rock songs. Even though both reviews and box office were only moderately successful, the film became a major Oscar player, earning eight nominations, including Picture, Actress for Kidman, Cinematography, Editing, Makeup, and Sound, and winning two, for Art Direction and Costumes. The show would be adapted into a Broadway musical in 2019.
Director: Baz Luhrmann
Twenty-Five Years Ago--May 17, 1996:
#1 Movies:
Twister--$37.1 million
New Wide Releases:
Flipper--2/$4.2 million/$20.1 million/85/32%/43--Loose remake of the 1963 film, which inspired the 1964 TV series, about a teenager (Elijah Wood) who, while staying with his fisherman uncle (Paul Hogan), on the Florida Gulf Coast, befriends a wild dolphin who is separated from the rest of his pod. Jonathan Banks, Chelsea Fields, and Isaac Hayes co-star. Despite seemingly built for summer, the film proved to be no match for Twister.
Director: Alan Shapiro
Heaven's Prisoners--5/$2.3 million/$5 million/149/16%/NA--Alec Baldwin's hope for a new franchise by starring in adaptions of James Lee Burke's Louisiana-set detective novels were dashed right out of the gate when this first entry bombed. Baldwin played a retired New Orleans cop who gets drawn back into an investigation of a drug smuggling ring, one that puts him and his wife (Kelly Lynch) in danger. Mary Stuart Masterson, Teri Hatcher, Eric Roberts, and Vondie Curtis-Hall co-star. A sequel, In the Electric Mist, with Tommy Lee Jones taking over the lead role, was released straight to DVD in 2009.
Director: Phil Joanou
Thirty Years Ago--May 17, 1991:
New Wide Releases:
What About Bob?--1/$9.2 million/$63.7 million/19/84%/60--Bill Murray, suffering from numerous phobias, likes his new psychiatrist (Richard Dreyfuss) so much that he decides to follow him on vacation to a small lake town in New Hampshire. As Murray integrates himself with Dreyfuss's wife (Julie Hagerty) and kids (Charlie Korsmo and Kathryn Erbe), Dreyfuss is driven even more insane than his patients. This mildly dark comedy got solid reviews and became a solid, early summer hit.
Director: Frank Oz
Stone Cold--5/$2.8 million/$9.2 million/100/33%/42--After the end of his career, outspoken football player Brian Bosworth decided to try his hand at acting, starring in this poorly received action movie as as an undercover FBI agent who infiltrates a biker gang led by Lance Henriksen, who intends to assassinate a prominent district attorney who is running for governor of Mississippi. William Forsythe co-starred. The reception of the film, both critically and commercially, at least temporarily halted Bosworth's acting ambitions, as he wouldn't appear in a film again until 1996.
Director: Craig R. Baxley
Mannequin 2: On the Move--8/$1.7 million/$3.8 million/133/13%/31--Despite being very, very silly, 1987's Mannequin had been a surprise box office hit, but it was probably tempting fate to hope that the premise would work a second time. The follow-up retained only Meshach Taylor from the first one, with the new central couple being Kristy Swanson, as a peasant girl-turned-mannequin, and Williams Ragsdale, as the reincarnation of the prince Swanson was in love with. Terry Kiser co-stars. The film would end up grossing less than a tenth of what the first film brought in.
Director: Stewart Raffill
New Limited Releases:
An Angel at My Table--$1.1 million/172/94%/79--After the art house success of her first film, Sweetie, Jane Campion had an even bigger critical hit with this biopic of New Zealand writer Janet Frame (played, at various times, by Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, and, in her film debut, Kerry Fox), whose promising childhood is derailed when she is mistakenly diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager and spends years in a mental institution. Though the film was only a mild success, it put Campion on the map as a major filmmaker.
Director: Jane Campion
Expanding:
Madonna: Truth or Dare--3/$3.4 million
Thirty-Five Years Ago--May 16, 1986:
New Wide Releases:
Top Gun--1/$8.2 million/$176.8 million/1/58%/50--A cocky-but-talented young Navy fighter pilot (Tom Cruise) and his partner (Anthony Edwards) get admitted to the Navy's Fighter Weapons School, where he romances a civilian instructor (Kelly McGillis) and has an intense rivalry with another pilot (Val Kilmer). Tom Skerritt, Michael Ironside, John Stockwell (also starring in last week's Dangerously Close), Tim Robbins, James Tolkan (appearing in his second straight #1 movie of the year, after Back to the Future), and Meg Ryan co-star. After a modest start, this drama played for months, ending up as 1986's highest grosser, as well as turning Cruse from an up-and-comer to Hollywood's biggest name. It also launched a thousand rip-offs (some starring Cruise, playing variations of his character here) and dramatically increased Navy recruiting. The film would receive four Oscar nominations, for Sound, Sound Effects Editing, and Film Editing, and would win Original Song for "Take My Breath Away". A much-belated sequel was supposed to be out last summer, but thanks to the pandemic, has bounced multiple times around the calendar, and is now set for release next summer.
Director: Tony Scott
Sweet Liberty--3/$3.2 million/$14.2 million/61/80%/NA--A history professor (Alan Alda, who also directed) is excited that his Revolutionary War-set novel is being turned into a major motion picture, until he realizes that the screenwriter (Bob Hoskins) and director (Saul Rubinek) are greatly altering it in order to appeal to a younger audience. Michael Caine, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Lillian Gish co-star. The comedy got good reviews, but proved to be no match for Top Gun, and the film didn't make anywhere near what Alda's last movie, The Four Seasons, had made.
Director: Alan Alda
Expanding:
No Retreat, No Surrender--8/$0.7 million
Forty Years Ago--May 15, 1981:
New Wide Releases:
The Fan--$3.1 million/85/38%/NA--Movie and stage star Lauren Bacall plays a movie and stage star who decides to ignore the increasingly deranged letters of the titular fan Michael Biehn, which causes him to lash out in increasingly violent ways. James Garner, Maureen Stapleton, Hector Elizondo, Anna Maria Horsford, and Griffin Dunne co-star, with Dana Delany making her film debut in a small part. This attracted a lot of controversy opening only five months after the murder of John Lennon, but that controversary didn't attract much business. The awful reviews didn't help.
Director: Ed Bianchi
The Hand--$2.5 million/89/26%/59--By the end of the decade, Oliver Stone would be one of Hollywood's most acclaimed filmmakers, but in 1981, his directorial career was off to an inauspicious start. This, his second film, was also his second horror film (after 1974's little-seen Seizure), but even if it flopped, it at least got a mainstream release. Michael Caine plays a cartoonist who loses his drawing hand in a freak car accident, which may or may not result in said hand being sentient and murderous, or perhaps it is Caine who is losing his mind. Bruce McGill, Pat Corley, and Charles Fleischer co-star. After the poor critical and commercial performance of this, Stone wouldn't direct again for five years, but his two 1986 films, Salvador and Platoon, would combine to get ten Oscar nominations and four wins, including Director for Stone.
Director: Oliver Stone
Happy Birthday to Me--NA/NA/20%/24--Yet another slasher film centered around a holiday or special event, this one centered on the upcoming birthday of Melissa Sue Anderson, at the time co-starring on the wholesome Little House on the Prairie. She plays a girl who, after surviving a traumatic accident two years earlier, now experiences blackouts, during which all her friends keep getting violently murdered. Glenn Ford played her psychiatrist, and Matt Craven has probably had the most recognizable career among the cast of victims. This one got the same critical reception as most of its fellow slashers flicks, and while it did OK business, it only made about half of what Friday the 13th Part II made.
Director: J. Lee Thompson
New Limited Releases:
Take This Job and Shove It--$17.6 million/43/NA/NA--Robert Hays followed up Airplane! with this comedy, in which he played a middle managment type who is sent to take over the failing brewery in his hometown. This doesn't sit well with old freinds David Keith and Tim Thomerson, but he is able to rekindle his romance with ex Barbara Hershey. Martin Mull, Eddie Albert, and Art Carney co-star, with cameos from George Lindsey and musicains Charlie Rich, David Allen Coe, and Johnny Paycheck, the latter two the writer and singer of the title song. Despite the solid cast and its status as a minor hit, it fell into obscurity after its theaterial run.
Director: Gus Trikonis
Expanding:
Atlantic City
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