Tag: steven spielberg

This Day in Movie History: January 24

28 years ago Today in Movie History – January 24 – Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple would rise to #1 at the box office. At the time, Spielberg was really only known for popcorn blockbusters like Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and E.T. and Purple would be classified as his first “serious” picture. Focusing on the plight of African-Americans in the U.S. during the early 20th century, Purple starred Danny Glover, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Rae Dawn Chong, and Whoopi Goldberg in her first film role. It would be a rousing box office success with a domestic tally of $98 million. Purple earned 11 Oscar nominations yet won none of them. Based originally on a novel by Alice Walker, it would later be made into a Broadway play.

As for birthdays, John Belushi would’ve turned 65 years old today. One of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live”, Belushi would make a huge splash in film as Bluto in the iconic comedy National Lampoon’s Animal House. Two years later, further success would follow with The Blues Brothers. Other film roles: Goin South, 1941, Neighbors, and Continental Divide. Dan Aykroyd wrote the role of Dr. Venkman in Ghostbusters for Belushi, but the star would die in 1982 from a drug overdose.

Ed Helms is 40 today. Known to many for his supporting role on TV’s “The Office”, Helms found box office success in The Hangover trilogy. Other notable roles include Cedar Rapids, Jeff, Who Lives At Home and We’re the Millers. Helms is currently attached to headline a reboot of the Vacation franchise.

As for Six Degrees of Separation between them:

John Belushi was in The Blues Brothers with Dan Aykroyd

Dan Aykroyd was in Trading Places with Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy was in Meet Dave with Ed Helms

And that’s today – January 24 – in Movie History!

Box Office Predictions: April 5-7

The first weekend of April brings the very real possibility of three movies being #1, with even an outside shot of a fourth taking the top spot. That is usually not the case when making predictions and this is shaping up to be a very interesting weekend.

For starters, we have the big debut of The Evil Dead remake. On Monday, I wrote an extensive post with my projection for the pic’s opening weekend. It can be found linked below for your review. In short, I’m predicting Dead debuts with just below $20 million.

https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/the-evil-dead-box-office-prediction/

Now… will that be enough for it to debut at #1? That depends on how far the Easter champ G.I. Joe: Retaliation falls in its second frame and also how far the animated The Croods drops in its third weekend.

The first G.I. Joe in 2009 dropped a hefty 59% in its second weekend. The sequel didn’t quite match the opening gross of its predecessor (while still posting a solid opening). However, audiences seem to like the follow-up more (it earned an A- Cinemascore grade to the original’s B+). I do believe Retaliation will dip over 50% in its sophomore frame, but not as far as the first did.

And there’s The Croods third weekend. The Dreamworks kiddie pic dropped a reasonable 39% last weekend and it could certainly drop that far or more this time around. Interestingly, a similar title from three years ago, How to Train Your Dragon, dropped a scant 14% in its third weekend. If The Croods dropped 25% or less, it would stand an excellent shot at returning to #1. It’s certainly possible, though I’m predicting it falls more than that.

Then there’s the return of 1993’s Jurassic Park to the multiplex. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the Steven Spielberg dinosaur tale is getting a 3D makeover. A gross of over $20 million certainly isn’t outside of the realm of possibility. I’m skeptical. There certainly seems to be no shortage of the film’s availability on TV (not to mention DVD) and I’m just not sure audiences will flock to the theater to see it. I picture an opening between $10-$15 million.

Finally, Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor is likely to drop from third to fifth. Perry’s films usually have big openings and Temptation did so with an impressive $21 million last weekend. They also have large drops in their second frames (well over 50%, closer to 60%) and I expect Temptation will follow suit.

So how does it all shake out? Here’s my predictions for the top five this weekend:

1. The Evil Dead

Predicted Gross: $19.8 million

2. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Predicted Gross: $18.7 million (representing a drop of 54%)

3. The Croods

Predicted Gross: $18.2 million (representing a drop of 32%)

4. Jurassic Park 3D

Predicted Gross: $12.8 million

5. Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

Predicted Gross: $8.9 million (representing a drop of 59%)

Be sure to check back this weekend for my update when the final numbers roll in!