The Box Office Thread

I was the same way.  I remember seeing it in theaters when I was 10 thinking 'eh, okay.'  

Braveheart was a different experience entirely.

Willow was pretty awesome when I was 8. I'm afraid to watch it now. I'll leave it be so it can stay on a high tier in my memory.

I loved Parenthood when I first saw it but holy shit after having kids and being a very similar situation as the Buckmans I have realized it is a masterpiece.

I do really enjoy most of Ron Howard's work though.

Honestly now that you bring it up I haven't kept up with his work in the past decade but looking it all up I can see why. He has done enough good for me to forgive him though. Will see how this next decade goes.

Word on the street is that Magic Mike XXL might outgross Terminator Genesis due to it having higher pre-sales.

As Jurassic World dominates the box office and the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future comes nearer, here's a box office ranking of every Steven Spielberg production - adjusted for inflation:

1. Jurassic World - $506.8 million as of Monday
2. Back to the Future - $479.4 million
3. Twister - $444 million
4. Men in Black - $443.4 million
5. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - $437.6 million
6. Transformers - $376.7 million
7. Gremlins - $369.3 million
8. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $359.3 million
9. Who Framed Roger Rabbit - $309 million
10. Men in Black II - $266.1 million
11. Jurassic Park III - $259.9 million
12. The Flintstones - $253.5 million
13. Transformers: Age of Extinction - $246.6 million
14. Deep Impact - $243.1 million
15. Back to the Future Part II - $238.3 million
16. Poltergeist - $211.5 million
17. Casper - $187.2 million
18. Men in Black III - $179 million
19. True Grit - $175.6 million
20. Back to the Future Part III - $168.4 million
21. The Mask of Zorro - $162.1 million
22. The Goonies - $140.5 million
23. Super 8 - $128.3 million
24. Eagle Eye - $114.7 million
25. Cowboys & Aliens - $102.5 million
26. Arachnophobia - $102.1 million
27. An American Tail - $101.7 million
28. The Land Before Time - $95.9 million
29. Monster House - $91.3 million
30. Real Steel - $88.6 million
31. The Money Pit - $82 million
32. Gremlins 2: The New Batch - $79.6 million
33. Twilight Zone: The Movie - $75.9 million
34. Joe Versus the Volcano - $75.6 million
35. Memoirs of a Geisha - $71.8 million
36. * batteries not included - $66.5 million
37. The Legend of Zorro - $58.8 million
38. The Hundred-Foot Journey - $54.5 million
39. Innerspace - $53.7 million
40. Continental Divide - $45.5 million
41. Dad - $45.2 million
42. The Lovely Bones - $45 million
43. Young Sherlock Holmes - $44.1 million
44. An American Tail: Fievel Goes West - $42.9 million
45. Flags of Our Fathers - $41.6 million
46. Used Cars - $35.3 million
47. Hereafter - $33.1 million
48. Balto - $20.9 million
49. We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story - $18.2 million
50. Letters from Iwo Jima - $16.2 million
51. I Wanna Hold Your Hand - $6.7 million

Used Cars is awesome, but it came at a bad time. Steven Spielberg hadn't yet recovered from the mega flop of 1941 and Robert Zemeckis was a relative newcomer with no clout. Also, Spielberg hadn't yet established himself as a brand name. His first production was I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Zemeckis directorial debut - which was a flop. Then came Used Cars and John Belushi's Continental Divide which were both flops. Poltergeist is the movie that put "Steven Spielberg Presents" and Amblin Entertainment on the map. 

Doomsday PG Cooper SnoBorderZero @dukeleto FShuttari

The Terminator was no match for Magic Mike. Both movies premiered last night at 7pm. Magic Mike XXL grossed $2.4 million and Terminator Genisys grossed $2.3 million. Things are off to a VERY close race between both movies.

Doomsday Dracula SnoBorderZero @dukeleto FShuttari

WEDNESDAY BOX OFFICE

1. Magic Mike XXL - $9.3 million
2. Terminator Genisys - $8.9 million
3. Inside Out - $7.4 million ($208.3 million)
4. Jurassic World - $5.9 million ($520.3 million)
5. Ted 2 - $3 million ($44 million)

The lowest grossing Terminator is actually the first one.

1. Terminator 2 - $395 million*
2. Terminator 3 - $202.4 million*
3. Salvation - $125.3 million
4. Terminator - $92.1 million*

*adjusted for inflation

HAPPY 30TH ANNIVERSARY TO BACK TO THE FUTURE!



When Jaws turned 40 a couple of weeks ago, I asked if its success was a good thing or a bad thing or a little of both. And now I wonder if this was even a question 30 years ago. Some of the most beloved movies of all-time were released between June 1975 and July 1985. And the industry itself was thriving thanks to the rise of malls and multiplexes. The only argument you could have made in 1985 is that Hollywood was beginning to cater towards young people. That is a valid criticism, but it isn't entirely true.

Back to the Future, the most successful movie of that year and one of the most popular of all-time, found a creative way to entertain people who were moviegoers before Jaws and the audience that came of age after Jaws. It tells the story of a teenager in 1985 who travels to 1955 and runs into his parents when they were teenagers. This premise is brilliant because of five reasons. 1) It uses the 1950's as nostalgia for the adults of the 1980's. 2) It tells a great fish-out-of-water tale for the teenagers of the 1980's. 3) The characters become better people and change their fate by eliminating the age barrier - meaning we can always learn something from each and there's no reason for a constant generational battle. Take notes, millennials. 4) Since children can't relate to the main plot, it has a science-fiction story with a mad scientist. 5) By using science-fiction and time travel, it takes a simple comedy and takes it to the next level. That's what great cinemas does. It tries to push the boundaries.

The movie - executive produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Robert Zemeckis - opened on July 3, 1985 and was #1 for 11 weeks. That means it was the #1 movie for the remainder of the summer and AFTER the summer had ended. It then remained in the top 10 until Christmas. Seriously! A movie released on the 4th of July weekend was still in the Top 10 box office when Christmas rolled around. A LOT has changed in 30 years. That would never happen today. Magic Mike XXL will be on Blu-Ray and Digital Download by October. When it's all said and done, Back to the Future was in theaters until March of 1986 and grossed a total of $210.6 million. That's $479.4 million when adjusted for inflation. You probably expected higher but people back then didn't rush to the theaters. They took their time and sampled everything. That's why you could release Ghostbusters and Gremlins on the same day and have both of them be huge successes. Also, the movie only cost $19 million - which is like $40-50 million in today's inflation - so it was a lot more profitable than today's blockbusters which cost $150-250 million to make.