And we're back! Sorry for the long delay between entries. Here, in the dead of winter, we're looking at some mid-June movies, many of which were massive blockbusters (and many more of which were massive flops). There were also a surprising number of eventual Oscar nominees released this weekend--and not just in technical categories.
One Year Ago--June 19, 2020:
#1 Movie:
Jurassic Park
New Theatrical Releases:
Followed--$0.5 million/97/74%/NA--Standard issue haunted house thriller updated for the YouTube age, and supposedly consisting of a series of live streams, as a popular vlogger (Matthew Solomon) and his crew (Tim Drier, Sam Valentine, Caitlin Grace) decide to film their weekend at a haunted hotel. You can probably guess what happens next. John Savage co-stars. This one sat on the shelf for two years before doing decent-for-the-pandemic business.
Director: Antoine Le
StarDog and TurboCat--$0.1 million/194/50%/NA--A superhero cat (Luke Evans) teams up with a dog who acquired superpowers after being frozen in space for 50 years (Nick Frost) to save their town from the mean cop/dogcatcher (Cory English) who seems intent on ridding the town of all animal life. Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy also lent their voices to this British-made animated action-comedy, which got a brief theatrical release.
Director: Ben Smith
Miss Juneteenth--$0.1 million/190/99%/73--This drama starred Nicole Beharie as a former winner of the annual Fort Worth Miss Junteenth pageant, who had to drop out of college after becoming pregnant. 15 years later, she is pushing her teenage daughter (Alexis Chikaeze) to compete in order to possibly get a college scholarship, even though Chikaeze would rather concentrate on her dancing. This emerged as one of the most critically acclaimed films to be released during the height of the pandemic.
Director: Channing Godfrey Peoples
Babyteeth--$0.01 million/304/93%/77--This acclaimed Australian drama stars Eliza Scanlen as a teenage girl with cancer who falls in love for the first--and perhaps last--time. But unlike The Fault in Our Stars, instead of a fellow cancer patient, her new boyfriend (Toby Wallace) is a drug dealer, much to the chagrin of her parents (Essie Davis and Ben Mendelsohn). This one seemed to do OK business everywhere but North America.
Director: Shannon Murphy
New Streaming Releases:
You Should Have Left--41%/46--Married couple Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried rent a house in Wales for a vacation. However, after they arrive, they and their young daughter (Avery Essex) begin to realize there something isn't quite right about the place, while also failing to heed the title's warning. This horror thriller scared up some decent business on PPV, but didn't exactly impress the critics.
Director: David Koepp
New Re-Releases:
Jurassic Park--$1.4 million/61
Jaws--$0.8 million/80
Five Years Ago--June 17, 2016:
New Wide Releases:
Finding Dory--1/$135.1 million/$486.3 million/2/94%/77--The one decade-plus later sequel of 2016 that was an unqualified smash, this sequel to 2003's Finding Nemo has Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) heading across the ocean in an attempt to track down her parents, which leads her to a seaside aquarium in California, while Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Nemo (Hayden Rolence) pursue her. Among the newcomers to the cast are Modern Family co-stars Ed O'Neill and Ty Burrell, along with Kaitlin Olson, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Saturday Night Live co-stars Bill Hader and Kate McKinnon, Sigourney Weaver as herself, and Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton. Coming back from the first film is original Nemo Alexander Gould (in a new role), director Andrew Stanton, and Pixar good luck charm John Ratzenberger. The film would get strong reviews (though not as strong as the original's) and was the smash hit of the summer.
Director: Andrew Stanton & Angus MacLane
Central Intelligence--2/$35.5 million/$127.4 million/22/71%/52--Mild-mannered accountant Kevin Hart is shocked to discover his formally nerdy high school classmate (Dwayne Johnson) has grown up into, well, The Rock, who is now a CIA agent who drags a reluctant Hart into his latest mission to prove his innocence after being accused of going rogue and killing his partner. Amy Ryan, Ryan Hansen, and Aaron Paul co-star, with cameos from Jason Bateman, Melissa McCarthy, and Kumail Nanjiani. This action-comedy was the first teaming of Johnson and Hart, as well as the first paring of Johnson with director Rawson Marshall Thurber, who would go on to direct Johnson in Skyscraper and Red Notice. Critics were mixed, but the leading duo helped turn this into a summer hit.
Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber
Ten Years Ago--June 24, 2011:
New Wide Releases:
Cars 2--1/$66.1 million/$191.5 million/8/40%/57--Pixar had spent the previous 16 years earning raves--and hundreds of millions--on every film they released (yes, including 2006's Cars), but eventually, they were going to produce a critical dud, and this sequel, focusing on redneck tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), as he gets caught up in international espionage with British spies Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer, while Lightning (Owen Wilson) is traveling around the world competing in races, was it. Other voice actors returning from the first film include Bonnie Hunt, Richard Kind, Tony Shalhoub, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Katherine Helmond, Edie McClurg, and Cheech Marin. Newcomers include John Turturro, Eddie Izzard, Joe Mantegna, Bruce Campbell, Jason Issacs, and Vanessa Redgrave, with vocal cameos from Brent Musburger, Colin Cowherd, and Jeff Gordon. Getting by far the worst reviews any Pixar film had gotten up to that point, the poor reaction bled over into the box office, as this was also the lowest-grossing Pixar movie since A Bug's Life (though it easily grossed enough to make the year's Top 10). Nevertheless, Cars 3 would follow in 2017. This would be John Lassiter's final directorial credit to date. This would also be the first Pixar film not nominated for Animated Feature at the Oscars since the category's introduction, which effectively broke the studio's four-year winning streak in that category.
Director: John Lasseter and Brad Lewis
Bad Teacher--2/$31.6 million/$100.3 million/29/45%/47--That would be Cameron Diaz, playing a frequently drunk and stoned middle school teacher who, after getting dumped by her wealthy fiancée (Nat Faxon), sets her sights on a wealthy substitute (Justin Timberlake, Diaz's real-life ex-boyfriend), even though he becomes involved with another teacher at the school (Lucy Punch). Jason Segal, Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins, Dave "Gruber" Allen, Molly Shannon, Eric Stonestreet, Thomas Lennon, and Paul Feig co-starred. Despite mixed reviews, this proved to be a moderate hit. A short-lived sitcom would follow in 2014. This would be something of a reunion for Diaz, Faxon, and Segal, who all appeared in the raunchy 2002 comedy Slackers, and the three, along with Allen, would go on to appear in 2014's Sex Tape, also directed by Jake Kasdan.
Director: Jake Kasdan
New Limited Releases:
A Better Life--$1.8 million/185/85%/64--An undocumented gardener in Los Angeles (Demián Bichir), hopes to give his teenage son (José Julián, making his film debut) a chance to succeed in the United States, but has to keep him away from the gangs that are trying to recruit him. He also has to track down his truck he uses in his business, after one of his employees (Carlos Linares) steals it. This drama got mostly positive reviews, but failed to break out outside of the art houses. Nevertheless, Bichir got an Oscar nomination for Best Actor. A telenovela adaption of the movie premiered in 2015.
Director: Chris Weitz
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front--$0.1 million/381/88%/65--This documentary followed Daniel McGowen, a young grad student who became involved with the radical environmental organization Earth Liberation Front in the mid-90s, and eventually participated in the arson attacks against a lumber company and a tree farm in 2001 in Oregon. Eventually caught by the FBI and tried for being an eco-terrorist, he was still in prison when the film opened (he has since been released). Despite strong reviews, it failed to attract much of an audience, though it would go on to be Oscar-nominated for Documentary Feature.
Director: Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Fifteen Years Ago--June 23, 2006:
New Wide Releases:
Click--1/$40 million/$137.4 million/13/34%/45--Adam Sandler had another summer comedy hit with this fantasy, in which he plays a workaholic who is neglecting his family, including wife Kate Beckinsale. He acquires a special universal remote control from Christopher Walken, which allows Sandler to treat real life like his TV, fast-forwarding, rewinding, and pausing. But he quickly learns that the remote has a mind of its own, and Sandler discovers that being successful at work isn't necessarily worth the neglect of his family. David Hasselhoff, Henry Winkler, Julie Kavner, Sean Astin, Jonah Hill, Jake Hoffman, Katie Cassidy, Cameron Monaghan, Jennifer Coolidge, Rachel Dratch, Sophie Monk, and Sandler regulars Nick Swardson, Rob Schneider, and Terry Crews co-star. It would receive an Oscar nomination for Makeup, making it to date the only film featuring Sandler to ever get nominated for an Academy Award.
Director: Frank Coraci
Waist Deep--5/$9.5 million/$21.3 million/113/28%/37--Tyrese Gibson stars in this action thriller as an ex-con whose attempts to go straight get uprooted when his young son (Henry Hunter Hall) is kidnapped by Gibson's ex-partner (The Game), who believes that Gibson still owes him money from their last job. Gibson, along with a female associate (Meagan Good) and his cousin (Larenz Tate) plan an elaborate scheme to get Gibson's son back. This did well in urban theaters, but didn't really break out into the mainstream, probably hurt by the negative reviews.
Director: Vondie Curtis-Hall
Twenty Years Ago--June 22, 2001:
New Wide Releases:
The Fast and the Furious--1/$40.1 million/$144.5 million/14/54%/58--Twenty years before the franchise would literally send two characters to drive a car into outer space, it started off as a modestly budgeted car-based action thriller whose plot owes a big debt to the then-10-year old Point Break. Undercover cop Paul Walker is assigned to investigate the underground LA street racing scene, in the hopes of finding out who has been hijacking tractor trailers. He is taken under the wing of veteran street racer Vin Diesel, and also begins romancing Diesel's sister (Jordana Brewster). While Walker, Diesel, Brewster, and Michelle Rodriguez (as Diesel's longtime girlfriend) would be back for at least some of the 8 subsequent installments, this would be the only appearance in the franchise for Rick Yune, Chad Linberg, Ted Levine, Matt Schultz, and Ja Rule. Critics were largely dismissive, but it became a surprise hit which gave birth to arguably the biggest film series originating in the 21st century that does not involve superheroes, wizards, or vampires.
Director: Rob Cohen
Dr. Dolittle 2--2/$25 million/$113 million/16/42%/49--Eddie Murphy found great success in the late 90s remaking comedies from the 60s, and he found some success in the early aughts making sequels to those comedies. So a year after The Nutty Professor II, Murphy reprises his 1998 role as the titular doctor who has the ability to understand animal talk. In this one, he has to convince a circus bear (voiced by Steve Zahn) and a wild bear (voiced by Lisa Kudrow) to fall in love to save their species and their forest from a greedy logging executive (Jeffrey Jones). Returning from the first film was Kristen Wilson, Raven-Symoné, and Kyla Pratt as Murphy's family, and Norm MacDonald as the voice of a dog. Newcomers include Kevin Pollak, James Avery, Andy Richter, and Steve Irwin, with animal voices provided by Michael J. Epps, Michael Rapaport, Isaac Hayes, Andy Dick, John Witherspoon, Cedric the Entertainer, Jamie Kennedy, David Cross, Bob Odenkirk, Georgia Engel, Joey Lauren Adams, Mandy Moore, Frankie Munez, Michael McKean, David L. Lander, Tom Kenny, Renée Taylor, and John DiMaggio. Critics were, unsurprisingly, unenthusiastic, but the film still did solid business, and between this and Shrek, Murphy was the king of family movies that summer. The subsequent sequels would be direct-to-video, with Pratt taking over the lead role.
Director: Steve Carr
New Limited Releases:
LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton--NA/NA/NA/78--This acclaimed documentary followed the life of LaLee Wallace, an illiterate 62-year-old woman living a hardscrabble life in rural Mississippi, where conditions for the African-American population has hardly improved since slavery was ended well over a century earlier. The film would be nominated for Documentary Feature at the Oscars.
Director: Deborah Dickson, Susan Froemke, and Albert Maysles
Twenty-Five Years Ago--June 21, 1996:
New Wide Releases:
Eraser--1/$24.6 million/$101.3 million/14/39%/56--This fairly standard-issue Schwarzenegger actioner cast him as a U.S. Marshall specializing in faking the deaths of government informants. He has to go on the run with his latest charge, a whistleblower at a defense contractor (Vanessa Williams), when his boss and mentor (James Caan) turns out to be a mole working for the company. Lots of things get blown up real good. James Coburn, Robert Pastorelli, James Cromwell, Danni Nucci, Joe Viterelli, John Slattery, and Roma Maffia co-star. The film did all right for itself, but ended up finishing behind other summer action flicks like The Rock and Mission: Impossible. To date, this is the last Schwarzenegger vehicle that was not a sequel to hit $100 million domestic. Its Sound Effect Editing would be Oscar-nominated.
Director: Chuck Russell
The Hunchback of Notre Dame--2/$21 million/$100.1 million/15/71%/74--Just two years after The Lion King, Disney Feature Animation was already sharply down both critically and commercially with this adaption of Victor Hugo's classic novel, which doesn't exactly lend itself to family musical comedy. Tom Hulce voices the titular character, who has lived in the Paris cathedral his entire life, but soon finds himself falling for a beautiful gypsy (voiced by Demi Moore). Unfortunately, also falling for her are Paris's top judge (Tony Jay), who has decided that if he can't have her, she should die, and the compassionate--and handsome--captain of the guards (Kevin Kline). This being a Disney movie, the hunchback also has a trio of singing, dancing gargoyles (Jason Alexander, Charles Kimbrough, and Mary Wickes, in his final performance) to hang out with. Other voices were provided by David Ogden Stiers, Frank Welker, Bill Fagerbakke, and Jim Cummings. Critics remarked that it was considerably darker than previous Disney animated outings, which might have led to its relatively so-so reviews and poor box office. Its Musical/Comedy Score would be Oscar nominated. A straight-to-video sequel would follow in 2002.
Director: Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise
New Limited Releases:
Lone Star--$12.4 million/115/94%/78--In this western neo-noir, the sheriff of a Texas border county (Chris Cooper) investigates a skeleton found at the local army base, which turns out to be one of his predecessors as sheriff (Kris Kristofferson) who had disappeared some forty years earlier. The investigation forces Cooper to confront his feelings about his late father (Matthew McConaughey), who had taken over as sheriff following Kristofferson's disappearance, while also resuming a romance with his widowed high school sweetheart (Elizabeth Peña), a match that had been opposed by both McConaughey and Peña's widowed mother (Míriam Colón). Clifton James, Ron Canada, Joe Morton, LaTanya Richardson, Tony Plana, and Frances McDormand co-star. The critical acclaim (and, quite possibly, McConaughey's star-making turn in A Time to Kill, which opened a few weeks later) helped make this an art house smash. To date, it is director John Sayles's highest-grossing film. The script would be Oscar nominated for Original Screenplay.
Director: John Sayles
Thirty Years Ago--June 21, 1991:
#1 Movie:
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves--$18.3 million
New Wide Releases:
Dying Young--3/$9.7 million/$33.7 million/42/23%/NA--Julia Roberts was the big draw for this tearjerker, in which she plays an inexperienced nurse hired to help take care of rich leukemia patient Campbell Scott. Naturally, they fall in love, and naturally, his remission ends and the cancer comes back. Vincent D'Onofrio, Ellen Burstyn, David Selby, and Scott's real-life mother Colleen Dewherst (in her final major film role) co-star. Roberts's name wasn't enough for the film to overcome the nearly-unanimous bad reviews, and this ended up being one of the summer's biggest disappointments.
Director: Joel Schumacher
The Rocketeer--4/$9.6 million/$46.7 million/27/66%/61--In this old-fashioned adventure from Disney, a stunt pilot (Billy Campbell) in 1938 Los Angeles comes into possession of a rocket pack built by Howard Hughes (Terry O'Quinn), and after he uses it to rescue a friend (Eddie Jones) from a malfunctioning airplane at an air show, finds himself being pursued by mobsters, the FBI, and a Hollywood superstar (Timothy Dalton) whose new movie Campbell's girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) has a part in, and who also happens to be a Nazi spy. Paul Sorvino, Joe Polito, Margo Martindale, Clint Howard, Melora Hardin, and Alan Arkin co-star. Weirdly, it largely ended up with the same climax (mobsters joining with the FBI to fight America's enemies) that the otherwise very different Eraser would have five years later. The film got solid reviews, but ended up being significantly outgrossed by other summer attractions, ending plans for a franchise. It would eventually be followed in 2019 by a modern day-set animated series aimed at young children, with Campbell voicing the grandson of his character from the movie.
Director: Joe Johnston
New Limited Releases:
Suburban Commando--$7 million/112/15%/NA--After a small part in Rocky III and the starring role in the (then) WWF-produced wrestling drama No Holds Barred, Hulk Hogan decided to try his hand at family action comedy. Here, he plays an intergalactic warrior on the run from a vicious intergalactic warlord (William Ball), when he crash-lands on Earth and ends up renting out the shed of meek family man Christopher Lloyd. Hijinks ensue. Shelley Duvall, Larry Miller, and Jack Elam, in his final theatrical film, co-star, as does 8-year-old Elisabeth Moss, in her film debut in a small role. This would play in a handful of markets over the summer, before getting a nationwide release in October. Critics were predictably underwhelmed, but Hogan would go on to churn out several similar kid-friendly action comedies, which largely had perfunctory theatrical releases before heading to home video. This was the final film of veteran director Burt Kennedy, who spent most of his career making westerns.
Director: Burt Kennedy
Thirty-Five Years Ago--June 20, 1986:
New Wide Releases:
The Karate Kid Part II--1/$12.7 million/$115.1 million/4/44%/55--In this sequel to the sleeper hit from two years prior, Daniel (Ralph Macchio) accompanies Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) to his hometown on the island of Okinawa, where Morita encounters his former best friend (Danny Kamekona), who has become a wealthy industrialist, but still has a deep grudge from decades earlier, and is determined to fight Morita. Martin Kove and William Zabka briefly reprise their roles from the first film, and B.D. Wong (credited as Bradd Wong) made his film debut in a small part. Critics were largely underwhelmed by the sequel, but it would be a huge hit, becoming the highest-grossing film of the original franchise. The third part of the series would be released in 1989. Peter Cetera's #1 hit "Glory of Love" would get an Oscar nomination for Original Song.
Director: John G. Avildsen
Legal Eagles--2/$8 million/$49.9 million/14/44%/57--Ivan Reitman's follow-up to Ghostbusters was this comedy mystery, in which aspiring D.A. Robert Redford is reluctantly drawn, by defense attorney Debra Winger, into the case of a young performance artist (Darryl Hannah) who claims that the painting she stole actually belongs to her. As they investigate, they discover a possible conspiracy involving Hannah's late father's former associates, including Terrance Stamp and John McMartin. Brian Dennehy, Steven Hill (also in Raw Deal), Christine Baranski, Roscoe Lee Browne, Grant Heslov, and Brian Doyle-Murray co-star. This one had sky-high expectations, given the cast, the director, and the budget ($30-$40 million, huge for 1986), but critics were largely underwhelmed, and while the film did well enough, it wasn't the massive blockbuster expected.
Director: Ivan Reitman
Forty Years Ago--June 19, 1981:
New Wide Releases:
The Cannonball Run--$72.2 million/6/30%/28--Only a year after Smokey and the Bandit II, in which Burt Reynolds raced from Florida to Texas with half the cops in the country after him, comes yet another testament to vehicular destruction, which features Reynolds and Bandit II co-star Dom DeLuise participating in the titular, illegal, cross-country race (based loosely on a real illegal cross-country race that had been ran several times during the 70s), traveling with Jack Elam and Farrah Fawcett, and competing against Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Mel Tillis, Terry Bradshaw, Jamie Farr, Adrienne Barbeau, Jackie Chan, and Roger Moore, playing a character claiming to be Roger Moore. George Furth, Bert Convey, and Peter Fonda play outside observers. Despite withering reviews, audiences showed up in droves to see the all-star comedy. A sequel followed in 1984.
Director: Hal Needham
Herbie Rides Again--NA/NA/80%/49--Unlike the first weekend of Disney's Summer Derby, the studio's attempt to drum up some summer business with re-releases of their live-action movies, in which the films you got depended on what part of the country you lived in, the entire nation got a double bill of this, the 1974 second entry in the Herbie series, and 1960's Swiss Family Robinson (see below). In this installment, Herbie the sentient Volkswagen Beetle has been left in the care of Helen Hayes, who is in a fight with frequent Disney villain Keenan Wynn, who wants to tear down the historic San Francisco firehouse she lives in to put up a skyscraper. Naturally, it's Herbie to the rescue. Stefanie Powers and Ken Berry co-star. While it was a box office hit during its original run, its re-release 7 years later was overshadowed by the huge summer movies released around it.
Director: Robert Stevenson
Superman II--$108.2 million/3/85%/83--1978's Superman was arguably the first modern superhero movie, the great granddaddy of the MCU. The follow-up followed up on the prologue of the first film, with General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his henchmen (Sarah Douglas, Jack O'Halloran) escaping the prison they had been condemned to and arriving on Earth, intending to conquer it, just as Superman (Christopher Reeve) gives up his powers to be with Lois (Margot Kidder). Returning from the first film were Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Valerie Perrine, Marc McClure, and Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. Newcomers included Clifton James and E.G. Marshall. The film had been partially directed by Richard Donner, who shot it back-to-back with the first film, but he ended up being fired due to his strained relationship with the film's producers. Richard Lester was brought in to finish the film. Donner would release his own cut of the film on DVD in 2006. The controversy didn't affect the reviews, which were mostly great, or the box office. The third film would be released in 1983.
Director: Richard Lester (and an uncredited Richard Donner)
Swiss Family Robinson--NA/NA/82%/61--The other half of Disney's live-action re-release double feature this week (though in a few markets, it went out solo) was this 1960 adaption of the classic novel, concerning the titular family (John Mills, Dorothy McGuire, James MacArthur, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran) who find themselves stranded on a remote island, where they have to fend off the local wildlife as well as a group of pirates, while making the place their home. The film had been a hit in its original run, but like Herbie Rides Again, proved to be no competition for the bigger releases 21 years later.
Director: Ken Annakin
New Limited Releases:
Confidence--NA/NA/NA/NA--One of two Best Foreign Language Oscar nominees from the previous year released on this weekend, this Hungarian drama stars Ildikó Bánsági as a woman who, during World War II, is forced to escape the Nazis by posing as the wife of a stranger, a paranoid resistance fighter (Péter Andorai). The two are forced to spend most of their time in a small room, where mutual mistrust gradually melts away into something else. Director István Szabó would win the Foreign Language Oscar the very next year with Mephisto.
Director: István Szabó
Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears--NA/NA/40%/NA--The other nominee--in fact the winner of the Foreign Language Oscar--was this Russian drama about three women (Vera Alentova, Irina Muravyova, Raisa Ryazanova) and their lives in 1958, when they are all optimistic about their lives, and in 1978, when marriage, divorce, an unplanned pregnancy, and careers have changed their outlook. The film was a huge hit in the USSR.
Director: Vladimir Menshov
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