A Look at The Biggest Box Office Stories from 1972-present (THABOS: The History of Amazing Box Office Stories) | IT'S FINALLY COMPLETE!!!!!!!

[redfirebird2008]

17 minutes ago, baumer said:

And ironically I believe 2002 was the first year of the box office mojo forums. That's when this whole obsession started and these forms definitely owe a debt of gratitude or at least an acknowledgement to boxofficemojo from back in the day.

 

What do you remember people thinking in early days of Spidey run? After the 2nd weekend (insanely low drop), I felt like it had a chance to reach Titanic. But I was brand new to box office stuff, pretty naive. It came up pretty far short of the big boat. Still an awesome run for Spidey. 

[Noctis]

2002 was cool where the number one film for domestic, overseas, and worldwide were all different.

[baumer]

On 6/14/2020 at 6:55 PM, redfirebird2008 said:

 

What do you remember people thinking in early days of Spidey run? After the 2nd weekend (insanely low drop), I felt like it had a chance to reach Titanic. But I was brand new to box office stuff, pretty naive. It came up pretty far short of the big boat. Still an awesome run for Spidey. 

 

I don't personally remember anyone thinking it would do Titanic numbers because 600 million was such an absurd amount of money at that time. I do remember everyone being completely blown away by the opening weekend. A hundred million dollar opening weekend at that time was just a pipe dream. And it certainly made that summer so much fun to track the box office. It was truly one of the most amazing Summers that I can recall.

[filmlover]

Yeah, Spider-Man blowing up with $100M+ was truly mind-boggling at the time. It was probably the first movie that really took advantage of the mood of the country as it was still recovering from 9/11. As much as I've always that hated Chad Kroeger song, those ads set to "Hero" likely did wonders for it.

 

Also makes you wonder how much the first Captain America would've exploded had it swapped dates with the first Thor and opened on the first weekend of May 2011 within days after the death of Osama bin Laden.

[peludo]

Spidey's OW was astonishing. To reach $100m in one weekend was magical. Let's remember that the previous record was beaten barely 6 months earlier by first Harry Potter ($90m), which had beaten The Lost World's record ($72m). In fact, SM1 2nd weekend was just $1m lower than Lost World's OW. 

 

My interest with BO started with HP1 vs FOTR battle in December 2001, but it is true that 2002 was an incredible year for BO. Sadly I did not find BOM until 2004 (if I remember well, about Shrek 2 release). I would have loved to follow those years in the forums.

[Lordmandeep]

4 hours ago, filmlover said:

Yeah, Spider-Man blowing up with $100M+ was truly mind-boggling at the time. It was probably the first movie that really took advantage of the mood of the country as it was still recovering from 9/11. As much as I've always that hated Chad Kroeger song, those ads set to "Hero" likely did wonders for it.

 

Also makes you wonder how much the first Captain America would've exploded had it swapped dates with the first Thor and opened on the first weekend of May 2011 within days after the death of Osama bin Laden.

ah the days Nickelback was well liked 

 

 

🤣

[Eric Atreides]

Not gonna make a concrete promise here, and things could get busy for me later, but I am planning on debuting 2003 here later tonight. If not, then expect it in the next couple days. There's a lot of fun stuff to talk about, and I hope you guys love it.

[Brainbug]

10 minutes ago, Eric Atreides said:

Not gonna make a concrete promise here, and things could get busy for me later, but I am planning on debuting 2003 here later tonight. If not, then expect it in the next couple days. There's a lot of fun stuff to talk about, and I hope you guys love it.

 

2003 was a banner year as well! Return of the King, Finding Nemo, Pirates 1, Matrix Reloaded, X-Men United, Bruce Almighty ... the summer especially was a rollercoaster.

[wildphantom]

This has got me so nostalgic for 2002. Great job on the piece. Although you might want to change Lando to Boba Fett in the Clones bit before any loonies have a meltdown 🤪

 

I haven’t actually seen Greek Wedding since it came out. Might revisit it this week. 
 

xXx making nearly $150 million domestic seems crazy now. Adjusted that’s Furious sequel kind of money. It even beat out Minority Report! Although it just goes to show that quality means a film lasts forever. The Spielberg movie is going to regarded as a great in the genre for decades to come. xXx? Not so much. Lol. 

[Eric Atreides]

[Eric Atreides]

2003

 

Belgium became the second country to legally recognize same-sex marriage, the US begins the Iraq war, and several nations joined the European Union. SARS is declared to be contained, and Saddam Hussein is captured by the United States. The World Genome Project is created, the Space Shuttle Columbia is destroyed, killing all seven astronauts, and Cristiano Ronaldo sees his Manchester United debut.

 

On TV, Mythbusters and Punk’d were born, while Jimmy Kimmel Live! debuted, becoming ABC’s flagship late night series. Long-running series like Two and a Half Men, NCIS, and One Tree Hill also premiered in 2003, as did Arrested Development, which garnered one of the biggest cult followings for any sitcom ever. Series finales included Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Touched by an Angel, Futurama (well its first finale), and Dexter’s Laboratory. 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ becomes the top-selling album of 2003, and The Dixie Chicks see major backlash for criticizing George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq. In gaming, Knights of the Old Republic hit store shelves, Call of Duty saw its debut, and The Simpsons Hit and Run became the option for many kids who wanted to play Grand Theft Auto, but weren’t allowed to by their parents.

 

In 2003, we lost Fred Rogers, Nina Simone, Gregory Peck, Katharine Hepburn, Barry White, Bob Hope, and Johnny Cash. But at the same time, we also saw the births of Greta Thunberg, Jaeden Martell, and Quvenzhane Wallis.

 

At the box office, 2003 continued the high that was 2002 with plenty of big hits, franchise starters, and a lot of sequels.

 

At #1, by all accounts, it was the finale to end all finales with the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. As said before, this was filmed alongside the previous two films of the trilogy, in an unprecedented move when it comes to production. However, this was actually supposed to be Part 2 of 2. During development, Peter Jackson wanted to make two films under Miramax, but after Miramax rejected the idea, Jackson soon began developing the project even further, and it required three movies to tell it all. Regardless, both projects had Return of the King begin with the same structure, after the Helm’s Deep battle in The Two Towers, which made this the easiest for Jackson to develop and film.

 

Jackson had to get crafty with this last installment. Despite the massive money he was granted, he did find himself getting creative when it comes to one setting in particular. The city of Minas Tirith was an important aspect of this final installment. The soundstage was built at Dry Creek Quarry, parts of the set were taken from the Battle of Helm’s Deep from The Two Towers.

 

 

Of course, that did not mean the whole process was an easy one. Aside from the fact the film was still incredibly expensive, months had to be dedicated for certain sequences and set pieces. As for the editing process, this was one that involved heavy sacrifices. Cutting the 4.5 hour assembly cut with about 4 hours worth of dailies into a 3 hour, 21 minute finale wasn’t easy. The film had to juggle multiple storylines, give them their needed time, and know when to cut to another story.

 

The last 45 minutes in particular had editing work going on for over 3 weeks, resulting in several scenes being cut, including the fate of characters like Legolas, Gimli, Eowyn, and Faramir. At the same time, scenes intended for The Two Towers, like Gollum’s backstory, were placed into here. However, one scene that was planned to appear in Return of the King was cut entirely in the final product. Saruman, played by Christopher Lee, was going to be killed off in the beginning of Return of the King. But then structure issues emerged. The idea was that having Saruman, the villain of the second movie, killed off in the beginning distracted from Sauron, the villain of the third movie and the true antagonist of the story. So despite pick-ups and dubs over the sequence, it was cut entirely from the final film.

 

Fans were not happy over the cut, as petitions emerged to demand the scene restored. Christopher Lee was also not happy over the removal of his scene, and despite contributing money towards the DVD and attending the Copenhagan premiere, Lee was still upset over it, as he was still unsure why his scene was removed. This also resulted in his relationship with Peter Jackson to be icier, though it seems they did make up once The Hobbit trilogy rolled around.

 

 

Regardless, December 2003 finally came around. As said before, when Fellowship first dropped, there was a lot of risk, because if the film flopped, New Line had two other expensive movies they would lose money on. When Two Towers first dropped, there was concern whether Fellowship was a fluke, or that people were invested in the further story. Of course, when Return of the King first dropped, after the previous two movies did at least $887 million each...yeah, it was kind of clear this movie was gonna turn out fine. And turn out fine it did.

 

The anticipation for this was through the roof that over 100,000 people attended the December 1 premiere in Wellington. And on its opening day, December 17, the film already broke records. Its $34.5 million debut was the biggest Wednesday in box office history, doubling Fellowship’s opening day, and sharply increasing from Two Towers. This would go on to an astonishing $72.6 million weekend, and $124.1 million for the 5-day, becoming the biggest December debut of all time, beating out, you guessed it, The Two Towers. And with its massive hype and rave reviews, this resulted in an astonishing $377 million domestic haul, the sixth-biggest film domestically at that time.

 

Worldwide was the real story however. With the immense popularity of the franchise overseas already, this resulted in $763.6 million in international markets. When totaled together, this resulted in $1.142 billion worldwide. Of course, we live in a day and age where China’s as big as ever, and Disney sneezes out a billion with every other movie they make. But back then, only Titanic hit that beloved mark. This was an unheard of milestone, and it showed how much excitement and love people have for Jackson’s story and vision. People couldn’t get enough of Middle-Earth, and it cultivated into a record finish. Today, Return of the King is still the 24th highest-grossing film of all time, which is nothing to scoff at.

 

Even today, the run The Lord of the Rings has is unprecedented. Sequels almost always see a decline from their predecessors, and yet Lord of the Rings not only did it back-to-back-to-back, it became the first film series in history to see increases, while all three were blockbuster successes. Ignoring stuff like Austin Powers and John Wick, which both saw their first films as modest hits, the closest example to what Lord of the Rings achieved would be the Toy Story quadrilogy, and those movies had large gaps between each film, benefiting in ticket price inflation and years of cultivating interest and fandom. Lord of the Rings was only one year apart. It just goes to show that sometimes it’s important to pull off something risky, because if you have the right talent, you can get something beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.

 

 

This success continued even after the movie wrapped up. While the last two movies were awards darlings, Return of the King continued the momentum in a big way. Thanks to its incredible box office and rave reviews, with many like Roger Ebert arguing it was the best of the whole trilogy, King earned 11 Oscar nominations. And in a stunning turn of events, every single award Return of the King was nominated for was given to the Jackson epic. This included Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture. Those 11 wins tied with Titanic and Ben-Hur making it hold the record for most Oscar wins with those two films. Alongside five BAFTAs, four Golden Globes, and three Empire Awards, it’s fair to say New Line Cinema was glad they took this costly risk.

 

 

Alongside a nearly $3 billion gross across all three films, the merchandising, DVD sales, and TV airings across all three films are estimated to also amount to about $3 billion, resulting in a franchise earning a gross amount of $6 billion on an investment of $426 million when you include marketing.

 

It truly was an incredible gross for an incredible film in an incredible series. But that wasn’t enough for New Line, which became acquired by Warner Bros. in 2008. They knew people loved this series and that people would come back for more. So nine years after Return of the King won it all, would people come back for more Middle-Earth adventures? Tune in and find out!

 

 

[Eric Atreides]

At #2, by all accounts, Pixar continued their animation dominance with Finding Nemo. It’s the story of an overprotective clownfish single father named Marlin, who pairs up with a forgetful blue tang named Dory to rescue his son, who is kidnapped by a dentist, on display in his waiting room. And through an epic adventure across the ocean, meeting colorful characters and incredible dangers, Marlin soon realizes the necessity to take risks, explore the world, and allow his son to grow up and take care of himself.

 

Like all great films, this was developed based on the personal experiences of its director. Andrew Stanton not only based the movie on his own interest in oceanography and underwater animals, including a fish tank at his childhood dentist’s office, but also his own experiences as a father. In 1997, he took his young son out for a walk in the park, and during that time, he was overprotecting and hovering over him at every point, becoming a miserable experience for the both of them. At one point, Andrew Stanton discovered an interesting photo of two clownfish peeking out of an anemone. Says Stanton: “It was so arresting. I had no idea what kind of fish they were, but I couldn't take my eyes off them. And as an entertainer, the fact that they were called clownfish—it was perfect. There's almost nothing more appealing than these little fish that want to play peekaboo with you.”

 

And since clownfish themselves do not leave their anemone often, it made this the perfect species for a sheltered character going on a dangerous journey. And thus, production was under way. The artists and animators took scuba diving lessons, aquarium trips, and even a crash course in fish biology in order to craft the world, designs, and even character animation to make the setting and characters feel realistic and believable. The team did such a good job at making the underwater world so realistic, when looking at the test footage they created, they were forced to tone down the realism. That's talent!

 

 

However, despite the education and compelling premise, things did not start out on the right foot. In 2001, Disney CEO Michael Eisner saw an early cut of the film, which was so early in development, Marlin was voiced by William H. Macy. Eisner infamously told the board of directors, “This will be a reality check for those guys...It's OK, but nowhere near as good as their previous films. Of course, they think it's great. Trust me, it's not."

 

Granted this was a rough draft that saw major changes, especially when Macy was replaced with Brooks, but that remark blew up in Eisner’s face, in what were many missteps during his tail end at Disney. Because when the movie opened, it was an instant success. Not only did it garner almost universal acclaim from all critics, that praise coupled with Pixar’s incredible hit streak resulted in an incredible $70.3 million opening weekend when released on May 30. That number is still astonishing for any movie today, and at the time was the biggest opening for any animated movie, passing Monsters, Inc., and was the ninth-biggest opening for any movie ever.

 

By combining a familiar studio name that built years of trust with a simple yet engaging story meant people were excited, and was the perfect example of what Pixar was able to achieve at the time. They were able to sell people on wholly original stories thanks to clever marketing, CGI animation, and charming stories and characters, and deliver blockbuster numbers every time. That’s still a herculean task, and even today Pixar has found themselves stumbling on that end (though still very successful at the end of the day). And with that immense praise, and little in the way of animated or family film competition, Finding Nemo was the movie of the summer. It stayed in the top 5 for 7 weeks in a row, and stayed in the top 10 for 11 weeks in a row. This resulted in an astonishing 4.84x legs, and $339.7 million domestic. Worldwide was no slouch, with Japan making up over $102 million of the overseas haul, resulting in $531.5 million internationally and $871 million worldwide. All three numbers were so massive they usurped The Lion King’s 9-year old record, making Nemo the biggest animated film of all time.

 

 

And this success did not stop there. Not only did this result in too many theme park attractions to count, the DVD release, coming out just when the medium was usurping VHS as the home media of choice, sold over 38.8 million copies, becoming the most successful film on DVD of all time. But when it comes to Nemo fever, the one person who saw the most success at the end of it all was co-star Ellen DeGeneres. Dory, the forgetful blue fish, was considered the breakout character, thanks to her short-term memory, goofy personality, and iconic voiceover performance from DeGeneres, who was picked after Stanton saw an episode of her 1994 ABC sitcom Ellen.

 

That sitcom’s most famous episode was “The Puppy Episode,” which resulted in Ellen being one of the first sitcoms ever to have a gay lead, and was released at the same time DeGeneres publicly came out on Time magazine and The Oprah Winfrey Show. Despite the episode’s acclaim, this led to massive backlash from conservative groups because lesbians evil according to Evangelicals and Southern Baptists. This led to the show garnering a parental advisory for all future episodes, the series being canceled one season later, the series losing advertisers and Ellen garnering unfair backlash.

 

After the show ended, Ellen’s career was in a rut. Her coming out made her a bit of a pariah, and apart from a short-lived CBS sitcom with Jim Gaffigan, it seemed like she wasn’t going to do much further apart from the occasional cameo and stand-up tours. However, Finding Nemo changed everything. The film came out just a couple months before her daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and with Nemo’s success, it gave Ellen’s new show more attention and is still a hit to this day, averaging 4.2 million viewers per episode, and more respect for DeGeneres as an entertainer and a queer woman. This resulted in her becoming one of the most successful comedians of all time, a hosting gig at both the Emmys and the Oscars, and is currently the host of the hit NBC primetime game show Ellen’s Game of Games...she’s also best friends with famous war criminal George W. Bush, but that’s another story.

 

Of course, Finding Nemo’s success wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Despite the film being against the idea of having fish as pets and keeping them in captivity, the success of the film prompted hundreds of stupid idiots to buy clownfish as pets and keep them in their home aquariums. This caused environmental devastation for clownfish and other tropical fish that is still being affected to this very day. Aquarium owners also released their pet fish into the ocean in response to the film, but failed to release them in the correct habitat, resulting in invasive species and harming reefs worldwide. Humanity was a mistake.

 

Regardless, the success of Finding Nemo can’t be understated, and showed what made Pixar so special in the first place. In 2012, the film saw a re-release in 3D, adding $69.3 million to the film’s worldwide total, resulting in an overall total of $940.3 million, making it one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time. With such an evergreen property, the question was how Disney and Pixar would expand on the feature in the future. And 13 years later, the companies figured it out.

 

Third domestic, fourth worldwide was a hit nobody saw coming: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. It’s the story of the infamous pirate Jack Sparrow, played by Johnny Depp, who along with the dashing blacksmith Will Turner, played by Orlando Bloom, attempt to rescue the beautiful Elizabeth Swann, played by Keira Knightley, and herself the daughter of a famed Governor, from the cursed crew of the Black Pearl, Jack Sparrow’s former ship. After stealing cursed Aztec gold, at night, the Black Pearl crew transform into undead skeletons, with immortality but the inability to enjoy anything.

 

Based on the Disneyland theme park ride of the same name, this was a film that nobody expected to be as successful as it was. If anything, the filmmakers had to fight tooth and nail just to go forward on the project. In 2001, as Disney began to consider the idea of adapting some of their iconic theme park attractions into big-budget movies, Disney hired Jay Wolpert to develop a screenplay based on Pirates of the Caribbean, either for theaters or direct-to-DVD. An homage to the films of Burt Lancaster, it was planned to be a traditional pirate movie with Matthew McConaughey as the potential swashbuckling hero. Disney Chairman Dick Cook convinced Jerry Bruckhemier to produce the project, but Bruckheimer initially rejected it, because the script was too derivative of other pirate movies.

 

Then, in March 2002, came screenwriters Ted Elliot and Terry Rossio. Taking inspiration from the actual ride itself, the one element they added was giving a supernatural element to the film. Instead of focusing on pirates, why not focus on zombie pirates? Cook, Bruckheimer, Elliot, and Rossio were all on board with the idea, and The Ring director Gore Verbinski, a fan of the ride, would sign on to direct.

 

 

But despite the murder’s row of producers and talent, the one thing standing between the movie and its production was Disney CEO Michael Eisner. While Eisner was eager to adapt theme park attractions into movies, as shown with both The Country Bears and The Haunted Mansion a few months inbetween Pirates, Curse of the Black Pearl was the movie Eisner wanted to make the least because of its genre and cost.

 

Because Hollywood hates risks, pirate movies were considered a dead genre. Not only were pirate movies becoming more and more rare every decade, 1995’s Cutthroat Island tried to revive the genre, but was one of the biggest box office bombs in history, killing off any future pirate projects, and the careers of Geena Davis and Matthew Modine. After all, it’s not that Cutthroat Island was bad. It was the genre.

 

At the same point in time, Bruckheimer demanded a hefty $140 million production budget. Eisner was not a fan of the movie costing a fortune to produce. This led Bruckheimer sitting him down and telling him upfront the movie had to cost this much because Disney needed to stay competitive in the marketplace. New Line and Warner Bros. were spending fortunes on The Lord of the Rings and The Matrix to great success. If Disney wanted to compete with the biggest franchises, they needed to spend that money.

 

And while Bruckheimer did convince Eisner for a while to make the movie, the CEO got cold feet yet again. After The Country Bears was released and became one of the biggest flops of 2002, Eisner assumed theme park movies were dead, so he ordered production to end. But Verbinski and Bruckheimer soldiered on, asking for the concept artists to continue developing and designing the production. And when Eisner saw what the team came up with, he was so impressed, he decided to let the movie begin filming.

 

But even after Eisner gave his blessings, he still had problems with the movie.  Specifically, Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Originally planned to be played by Hugh Jackman, Sparrow was supposed to be a cocky, Burt Lancaster-style hero. However, after Depp did research on 18th-century pirates, he noticed they were the equivalent to modern rock stars, he decided to base his performance on Keith Richards. If Jack Sparrow is a washed-up pirate, why not play it as a washed-up rock star?

 

This came as a surprise to Bruckheimer and Verbinski, but they had faith in Depp’s interpretation, especially since Orlando Bloom was playing the traditional Errol Flynn hero. However, the Disney executives were confused over Depp’s portrayal, unsure if he was drunk or gay. Eisner flat-out screamed, “He’s ruining the film!” at one point.

 

With all that said, it was considered a safe bet from film journalists and even Disney executives this film was gonna flop. Pirate movies were dead. The Country Bears was a flop. Johnny Depp had little success as a leading man and his character was too weird. It was the first time a Walt Disney film had a PG-13 rating, which could alienate family audiences. This seemed to have nothing going for it.

 

But after jumping through so many hoops just to get made, only to be mocked upon its release, Eisner had to eat some humble pie. Opening on July 9, its 5-Day opening was a very impressive $70.6 million, which was higher than Terminator 3’s 5-Day opening a week earlier (we’ll get to that). It certainly relaxed and put the executives at ease. But what nobody expected was how much people loved it. For the rest of the summer, and into the fall, people were going gaga for the movie, spreading word of mouth to friends and family, and coming back for repeat viewings. This resulted in an astonishing $305.4 million domestic haul, 4.32x its 5-Day opening, and putting the movie ahead of every other non-Nemo film that summer, all of which had more hype going in. International business was great to, as the film opened at #1 and stayed #1 overseas for 7 weeks, tying Men in Black II’s record. With $348.8 million internationally, this resulted in a fantastic $654.3 million. So much for a dead genre.

 

 

After all the hoopla and butting heads, this $140 million risk was able to compete with Lord of the Rings and The Matrix after all. So why did a movie that had so much against it do so well? Outside of it being a fantastic blockbuster, it is the very risks and oddities that made Disney executives so skittish that made the film so successful.

 

To quote famed YouTuber and analysis queen Lindsay Ellis, “In art, it is the desire for known quantities versus the fear of unknown that sums up what Hollywood movies do well and which don’t. The unknown quantities, the risks, are what stick in people’s minds. They’re what elevate movies from banal and cookie-cutter to iconic and generation-defining.”

 

This movie was so unique and so well-done compared to everything else that it got people excited and interested in it. They loved the supernatural elements, the swordfighting, the production design, and the money clearly on the screen. They loved seeing pirates at a time when they were nonexistent in movies. And most importantly, they loved Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. His role as the bumbling drunkard rock star was the highlight of the film, unconventional from typical heroes and a unique take among pirate movies and adventure movies. This even led to an Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp.

 

With Curse of the Black Pearl now one of the biggest hits in Disney history, at a time when they really needed something other than Pixar, everything changed. Jerry Bruckheimer continued his steady relationship with Disney, while Johnny Depp soon became a global superstar and a powerful leading man...of course then his career went down the toilet after people got sick of his schtick, he appeared in a bunch of bad movies, and later became a part of several domestic abuse stories between him and ex-wife Amber Heard, which are still muddy and argued about to this day. But hey, at least he got his coin I guess.

 

But of course, Disney finally had a big-budget franchise to call their own. They had their Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter, and they were going to exploit that fact for all its worth. This resulted in one of Disney’s biggest franchises, with four sequels, three of which we’ll definitely talk about in the future, a massive refurbishment for the ride which sees Jack Sparrow and friends appear in the attraction, and a new film, that may or may not be a reboot, is in development. All told, Disney’s crazy venture turned out okay.

 

Fourth domestic, third worldwide saw the return of the Wachowskis and Keanu with The Matrix Reloaded. After the massive success of the original Matrix, Warner Bros. was understandably eager to capitalize on that popularity. And the Wachowskis, who already had an idea for a trilogy, were more than eager to follow up on the idea, with the sisters deciding to film them back-to-back a la Lord of the Rings from March 2001 to August 2002. However, they wanted to go even bigger. The world of The Matrix was garnering a massive fandom, and the Wachowskis wanted to satiate and excite that audience even further.

 

Not only were there two sequels, and not only were they set to release only a few months apart, but, utilizing transmedia storytelling, 2003 was going to be a major year for The Matrix in all mediums. A day before the release of The Matrix Reloaded, the video game Enter the Matrix was released. This wasn’t just a cheap tie-in to promote the movie, but an important element to truly understand the plot of Reloaded. Enter the Matrix’s story ran parallel to the events of Reloaded, and featured live-action footage that was shot during production of Reloaded and Revolutions. A couple weeks after Reloaded was released also saw The Animatrix, an animated anthology film that expanded the backstory, world, concepts, and characters of The Matrix. This is to say nothing of the webcomics that were featured on The Matrix’s website.

 

This was all part of an ambitious form of storytelling where people could still get something out of these sequels on their own, but to truly appreciate and understand the world, characters, and grand storyline, you had to do your homework. Play the game, see the spin-off movie, read the comics. That way, you get the full experience and the best understanding of the plot. Even today it’s a rarity. Star Wars may publish a novel or comic book here and there, and there are some video games that expand the universe, but they are generally their own story, and nonessential. The MCU’s movies ask viewers to watch them in release order, but it’s not fully necessary, and it’s only just movies. The MCU is planning to have several Disney+ television shows tie into the broader Marvel story, but that’s still only one other form of media. It means The Matrix was both ahead of its time and unlike anything else.

 

Regardless, when it comes to Reloaded, the film continued to follow in the first film’s footsteps by developing unique visual effects and action sequences that were seemingly impossible to film. One of the most iconic sequences, in both Reloaded and the franchise, was the Burly Brawl, where Neo has to fight 100 Agent Smiths. This sequence, and many others were considered almost impossible to achieve, at least within the span of a few months. ESC Entertainment, the team in charge of creating the Wachowskis’ vision, could not achieve what they did with bullet time, as those moments required a carefully planned array of cameras and months of planning. This resulted in the creation of a virtual camera, photographs of buildings, and a digitizing all data. And after a whole bunch of technical jargon that is hard to understand and explain, this ultimately meant ESC created virtual cinematography, where characters, locations, and events can all be created digitally and viewed through virtual cameras. This kind of virtual camera technology was innovative and still used today, even in recent hits like Avengers: Infinity War, and the recent Lion King remake.

 

 

With the popularity of the first film, as well as the incredible hype surrounding The Matrix as a whole with all the media set to release, Reloaded was riding an incredible wave of hype upon its release. And that hype translated into an explosive opening day. On Thursday, May 15, Reloaded saw a $37.5 million first day, becoming the second-biggest opening day ever, only behind Spider-Man. As a whole, Reloaded’s first four days amounted to $134.3 million, when including the $5 million generated from Wednesday night previews.

 

This all resulted in a very impressive $281.6 million domestic total. However, the real story for Reloaded was its international success. While its opening weekend saw it open in 13 territories, to great numbers at about $37.5 million, the following weekend, saw 62 territories, and with the immense hype, Reloaded made history by becoming the first movie to gross $100 million overseas in one weekend, resulting in a final worldwide total of $739.4 million. This incredible gross made it the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, a record that would be held for 13 years, and showed hype and love for The Matrix was here to stay. But would that love continue for the sequel set to release about six months later?

 

Fifth place was the Jim Carrey smash Bruce Almighty. Carrey plays Bruce, a down-on-his-luck TV reporter who recently gets fired after failing to earn a news anchorman position. After complaining to the Lord himself that he is ruining his life, God, played by Morgan Freeman, comes down to Bruce and decides this: if Bruce wants to prove He is doing His job wrong, God will give Bruce His divine powers. This means Jim Carrey has all the power and control of God. Hi-jinks ensue!

 

Upon its release, while Carrey’s starpower and clever premise had many expecting solid box office, nobody saw it being the monster success it became. On Memorial Day weekend, the film generated an astonishing $68 million three-day, and an incredible $85.7 million four-day, becoming the second-biggest Memorial Day opening weekend in history, only behind The Lost World. An original comedy movie generating an opening like this is pretty much impossible in today’s climate, and was still very surprising in 2003. So what was the winning formula here?

 

 

Like many films before it, there was a perfect blend of superstar and concept. Jim Carrey was a consistently reliable name in the 90s, and continued to find success into the 2000s, but aside from The Grinch, he was starting to go more experimental with films like Man on the Moon and The Majestic. They had their fans, but were not box office hits. This was a return to form of the Carrey people know and love. Carrey’s wacky facial expressions, energetic personality, and slapstick nature was missed by people, and Bruce Almighty promised that in spades. And the idea of a wacky guy like Jim Carrey as God was so bizarre it had to be seen to be believed. So despite mixed reviews, people got hyped, and the excitement was through the roof. And this resulted in one of Jim Carrey’s biggest hits, and last major success until Sonic the Hedgehog 17 years later. Jennifer Aniston, being on the second-to-last season of Friends, as Carrey’s co-star also helped.

 

The film finished its run with $242.8 million domestically, and $484.6 million worldwide, Carrey’s biggest worldwide hit and the highest-grossing comedy movie of all time. However, that success did result in some humorous controversy. God’s phone number, which Bruce used to contact Him, was an actual phone number instead of the traditional 555 exchange. This resulted in several people and groups who share the same number getting random phone calls from strangers who wanted to talk to God. Apparently the producers checked, and it didn’t work for one area code, but failed to check elsewhere...okay. Future edits of the film went with a traditional 555 number.

 

The blockbuster success of the film developed a bit of a franchise. In 2007, Tom Shadyac directed the spin-off/sequel Evan Almighty, based on Steve Carell’s character in the first movie, and serving as a modern retelling of Noah’s Ark. Despite a lot of the creative team and Morgan Freeman returning, the film went over-budget at $175 million, was panned by critics, saw controversy over the alleged treatment of the many animal actors, and grossed less than its production budget. Good job guys. In 2016, National Geographic created the documentary series The Story of God with Morgan Freeman, which seems to be a bit of a spiritual spin-off to the Almighty movies, and produced three seasons.

[Eric Atreides]

Going down to sixth domestic, ninth worldwide, the Marvel mutants continued their legacy with X2: X-Men United. After the 2000 X-Men movie saw major financial and critical success, as well as reviving people’s interest in Marvel Comics adaptations, 20th Century Fox immediately greenlit a follow-up, with Bryan Singer set to return again as director. Singer, along with producer Tom DeSanto, wanted to develop X2 as The Empire Strikes Back of the series, and was planned to release on November 2002, but was pushed to May 2003 because production was pushed to June 2002.

 

This production push was because of the film’s unique screenplay production and massive rewrites. Screenwriters Zak Penn and David Hayter, the latter of which voices Solid Snake in the Metal Gear Solid games, developed their own screenplays, and then combined one another’s with what they felt were the best elements of their own works. Michael Doughtery and Dan Harris were hired to rewrite the script, which is where a lot of cuts and changes took place. Characters like Beast and Angel were set to be introduced here, and Tyler Mane was set to return as Sabretooth, but were scrapped because there were too many characters as is. Cyclops and Professor X were also set to have more scenes, and they were shot, but were cut from the final film due to time constraints. Halle Berry’s Storm also got more scenes to capitalize on Berry’s Oscar win. Other parts of X-Men lore like the Sentinels and the Danger Room were set to appear, but they were dropped due to budget cuts. Some of the cut elements would later be added to the next X-Men film The Last Stand.

 

 

Yet despite all the rewrites, the final product was totally worth it. Not only did the film earn great reviews, with some arguing it was better than its predecessor, the media hype and immense popularity of the first film resulted in this movie being big. Very big.

 

Opening with the widest release ever, in 93 countries, 7,316 screens overseas and 3,741 theaters in the US and Canada, its opening day ($31.2 million) was the third-biggest in box office history, only behind Spider-Man and Philosopher’s Stone. This resulted in an $85.6 million opening weekend, an astonishing 57.1% increase from the first film’s opening weekend, and the fourth-largest opening weekend at that time, only behind Spider-Man and the first two Potter movies. It was also Fox’s biggest debut at the time.

 

X2 was another instance of what a good sequel is able to do. 2000’s X-Men not only entertained fans of the original comic, but it created new fans who were intrigued by the franchise’s characters, action, and more importantly its messaging about outcasts. Combined with DVD sales and TV airings for the next three years, X-Men was getting a lot of attention and a lot of love, which went into the sequel that gave people what they wanted and more.

 

X2 finished with $214.9 million domestic and $407.7 million worldwide, 36.6% and 37.6% above the last X-Men respectively. It was further proof, one year after Spider-Man, that Marvel and comic book movies were here to stay and that there was longevity to these properties as franchises.

 

Seventh place saw was the Christmas family comedy Elf. Starring Will Ferrell, it was about Buddy, a man who was adopted and raised by Santa’s elves. When he discovers that he is in fact not an elf but was a human orphan, he travels to New York City to meet his biological father, who is also on the naughty list, and tries to spread Christmas cheer to the cynical world of New York.

 

The script for the movie was written by David Berenbaum in 1993, and was intended to be a Jim Carrey vehicle. Years later, it would be attached to Will Ferrell, in what would be one of the most important roles of his life. In 1995, Ferrell, who was then a part of the comedy troupe The Groundlings, was asked to join Saturday Night Live, at a time when the sketch series saw a major decline in ratings. His goofy energy and iconic impressions made him a fan favorite during his seven-year run, with many arguing he was one of the best cast members in SNL history. So in 2003, not only did he star in the Todd Phillips raunch fest Old School, he attached himself to Berenbaum’s Elf script, though it would see heavy rewrites from him, and his buddies like Scot Armstrong, Chris Henchy, and Adam McKay.

 

Elf’s director was Jon Favreau, who two years ago saw his directorial debut Made, and has been a consistent character actor in movies and TV, with his breakout success being Swingers. Favreau was on board with directing Will Ferrell’s first post-SNL movie. However, the initial script was a lot darker, and would have likely earned a PG-13 rating. Favreau was asked to rewrite it, and it was there that inspiration struck. He realized he could make Buddy’s world an homage to the stop-motion Rankin/Bass Christmas specials he grew up with. This inspiration allowed Favreau to rewrite the script for a whole year, turning it into the PG family flick we all know and love today.

 

 

Opening on November 7, the film debuted in second place, behind The Matrix Revolutions, to a very solid $31.1 million. With good reviews and the holiday season starting to rev up, it was expected that the film would leg out similar to The Grinch three years ago. The film dropped only 15% in its second weekend, and reached #1. And with Thanksgiving around the corner, and the Christmas spirit in the air during December, Elf earned an astonishing 5.61x legs, and a grand total of $173.4 million domestic and $220.4 million worldwide.

 

And really, that rewrite and push towards a PG rating was beneficial, solely because of one element in the film that really made it stand out: Will Ferrell as Buddy the Elf. The great thing about Buddy was his innocence and optimistic nature. He’s a fish out of water, leaving behind a whimsical world of magic elves, toys, and gumdrops, and moving into a world where people couldn’t care less about the Christmas spirit. He grew up in a world where it was okay to be childish, and he tries to take that idea and give it to his curmudgeon father, all the while saving his family and Christmas in the process. There’s a sweetness to Buddy that makes him endearing and likable.

 

And of course, Will Ferrell is hilarious throughout. He has this delightful childish energy in his delivery, his observations, and his dialogue that can be enjoyable to anybody, while not being obnoxious. Kids and adults love Will Ferrell in the movie for both different similar reasons. Kids get to laugh at a grown-up acting silly, while adults get to enjoy his flexible and passionate delivery, and both get to enjoy the funny dialogue and hilarious slapstick. While writing this, I’m flashing back to scenes in the movie, and I’m still cracking up just thinking about it.

 

This put Will Ferrell on the right track. The monster success of Elf and the solid success of Old School made 2003 a banner year for the comedian, and set himself up for several hits in the years to come, including Anchorman, Talladega Nights, Blades of Glory, Step Brothers, The Other Guys, and Daddy’s Home, among others. Jon Favreau also saw a big career boost. He got a lot of calls after Elf, and while 2006’s Zathura was a flop, he struck gold in 2008 with Iron Man. Trust me when I say I have a lot to talk about with that movie. And since that film’s release, he’s become one of the biggest directors working today. While Iron Man 2 was considered a bit of a critical disappointment, and Cowboys and Aliens was a commercial failure, he would then direct the remakes of The Jungle Book and The Lion King, both of which were massive hits, and created the Star Wars series The Mandalorian, becoming one of the most talked about shows of 2019, and the killer app for Disney+.

 

And today, Elf is considered a Christmas classic. It’s been a hit on television every December, and has turned into a decent little franchise. In 2010, Elf became a Broadway musical that saw mixed reviews, but was the third-biggest Broadway hit that Thanksgiving, behind Wicked and The Lion King, and has popped up during the Christmas seasons around the United States for the past couple years. In 2014, NBC aired the hour-long stop-motion special Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas, another musical re-telling which featured the voices of Jim Parsons, Mark Hamill, Kate MiCucci, Rachel MacFarlane, and Ed Asner reprising his role as Santa Claus.

 

Favreau has mentioned over the years he is very eager to direct a sequel, Elf 2: Buddy Saves Christmas. However, Will Ferrell has stated he has no interest in a sequel, and says it’s unlikely it will come into fruition. We’ll see what happens down the line.

 

Eighth domestic, seventh worldwide was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. This sequel’s production history is so long and is honestly more interesting than the film itself. Terminator’s film rights were held by Carolco Pictures and Cameron’s ex-wife Gale Anne Hurd back in the 90s. Upon T2’s smashing success, both Hurd and Carolco were very eager to make a third Terminator movie, with Carolco co-founder Mario Kassar mentioning it would arrive in the next 5-7 years.

 

In 1995, Cameron started gaining interest in a third Terminator film, but Carolco filed for bankruptcy. Cameron then decided he wanted to work with 20th Century Fox on this third movie. In 1996, the theme park ride Terminator 2 3-D at Universal Studios was born, directed by Cameron, and was going to serve as a stepping stone for a T3 at Fox. But then Cameron was busy working on Titanic. Pretty smart move to be honest.

 

Carolco’s bankruptcy meant their assets were up for grabs, where Fox was looking to get Terminator in their hands. At the same time, Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Bill Mechanic was beginning negotiations with Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Gale Anne Hurd, the latter over her share of the sequel rights. Fox wanted the film to be budgeted similar to its predecessor, at about $95 million. However, Fox realized that with the cost needed to buy the rights from Carolco, as well as Schwarzenegger’s massive $25 million salary, that budget was impossible. Reportedly, Schwarzenegger tried to convince Cameron to have the two of them buy the rights themselves, but Cameron wasn’t interested.

 

At the same time, Dimension Films tried to purchase Hurd’s Terminator rights, as well as Carolco, but a judge ruled against the motion that only an established studio could bid for the Carolco rights. Enter Andrew G. Vajna, the former co-owner of Carolco up until 1989. When Vajna and his fellow co-owner Mario Kassar saw an early cut of Titanic, that’s when they first heard word about Terminator being up for grabs. By planning to create a new production company named C2 Pictures, Vajna secretly talked with the bankruptcy court over him and Kassar acquiring the Terminator rights, and signed a tentative $7.5 million agreement for purchasing the rights. 

 

Mechanic and Cameron were both unhappy over Vajna’s agreement. Mechanic spent months of negotiations over Terminator 3, while Cameron felt betrayed that his supposed friends would buy the rights in such a sneaky way. And at the end of the day, it worked. Dimension dropped out, Fox’s plan was too expensive, and Cameron was losing more and more interest in the idea, both because of what Vajna and Kassar had done, as well as him feeling his story was complete after Terminator 2. Schwarzenegger was completely against a Terminator film without Cameron in charge, but Cameron managed to convince his friend to do a third film without him. “If they can come up with a good script and they pay you a lot of money, don't think twice."

 

Kassar and Vajna got the rights up for sale for $8 million, acquired Hurd’s share, and became the full owners of the franchise, ready to produce Terminator 3, though reportedly Cameron’s company Lightstorm Entertainment did try to get the rights, but chose not to due to the costs.

 

And this was just the stuff with the rights.

 

 

When it came to pre-production starting in 1999, Kassar and Vajna, now under C2 Pictures, brought along Toho-Towa and German company VCL as co-financiers, and a script began under Tedi Sarafian. The script was completed in 2000, with filming set to start that year in time for a fall 2001 release. Kassar also wanted to shoot Terminator 3 and 4 back-to-back, but decided to go with just 3 to be safe. As for who would direct this Cameron-less romp, figures like Ang Lee, Christian Duguay, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, and Roland Emmerich were considered.

 

In the end, after a production delay to 2001, the job was given to Jonathan Mostow, then known for the submarine thriller U-571. Mostow was very...strict when it came to production. Says Mostow, "I said, 'Here's the movie I'm going to make, here's how I'm going to do it. If you don't want to do it my way, you should find a different director.'" Mostow was not a fan of Sarafian’s script, which led to his college classmates John Brancato and Michael Ferris to rewrite the screenplay. Much of Sarafian’s draft was rewritten, and there were more scenes added to make T3 more of a road movie, which fit with Mostow’s vision.

 

While all of this was happening, even the casting was a nightmare. While Schwarzenegger wasn’t a problem, apart from an almost $30 million paycheck, everything else was pretty crazy. Edward Furlong was set to reprise his role as John Connor on August 2000. However, in December 2001, it was decided Furlong would be replaced by a different actor, because Mostow’s vision of John Connor was different from how Furlong played him, and Furlong’s substance abuse problems was bad for the film’s PR. Shane West, Jake Gyllenhaal and Logan Marshall-Green were considered, but the role ended up in the hands of Nick Stahl.

 

The T-X, the main antagonist of the film, had over 10,000 women auditioning for the role, with Arnold advocating for wrestler Chyna, and Famke Janssen being a favorite for the role. In fact, there was even consideration for the T-X to be a man and be played by Vin Diesel after the success of The Fast and the Furious. In the end, newcomer Kristanna Loken was cast. Mostow wanted Claire Danes to play Kate Brewster, but the initial offer fell through. Sophia Bush was cast, but Mostow felt her appearance made her too youthful for the role. This meant Bush was fired despite filming a month’s worth of material, and Claire Danes was finally convinced to join the film. Linda Hamilton was set to return as Sarah Connor, but that completely fell apart. Not only did Mostow fail to have a good idea for her in the film itself, Hamilton was not a fan of her role in the original script, and was not a fan of Cameron not being the director.

 

 

But in the end, the movie was filmed. And due to Schwarzenegger’s paycheck, paying for the Carolco rights, and the massive scale of the film and action, it tallied up to about $187.3 million, making it the most expensive film ever at that time. A massive bidding war took place between all the studios for distribution, though Fox bowed out in respect of Cameron. Warner Bros. got the US rights, while Sony got the rest of the world. And after a year-long marketing campaign and the glorious return of Terminator, when it finally released on July 2, it did...okay.

 

Nothing terrible of course. It opened to a record for Schwarzenegger’s career, and $72.4 million for the first 5 days is nothing terrible. But it was only the fourth-biggest Fourth of July debut, behind Independence Day and the first two MiB films, and with all the hype for the return of Terminator, Schwarzenegger, the massive production budget, and all the marketing hoopla, the film’s debut was just...fine. It finished its run with about $150.4 million domestic and $433.4 million worldwide, which was about 27% and 16% below Terminator 2 respectively. Not horrible, but nothing amazing for a sequel coming 12 years after its predecessor. Reviews were also in the “okay” range, with A.O. Scott and Roger Ebert giving measured responses. By all accounts, this was a movie that people liked fine enough, and a fine enough group of people saw it without really rocking the boat, but you could argue diminishing returns were in the air. Even James Cameron, who said the film was great upon release, went on to say he didn’t think the film held up compared to his first two.

 

And diminishing returns would haunt this franchise for the next decade and a half. 2009 saw the follow-up Terminator Salvation, with Vajna and Kassar selling the rights to The Halycon Company. It was set to be the start of a new trilogy, but mediocre box office, poor reviews, legality issues, and Halycon’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy led to scrapped sequels. In 2012, the rights were up for grabs, were given to Megan and David Ellison, and was set up at Skydance. Terminator Genisys was set to kick off a new trilogy that took the original story into a new direction, and while its box office was better than Terminator 3, it was panned by everybody, and the sequels were scrapped.

 

Finally, James Cameron got the rights back, and produced a new movie with David Ellison titled Terminator: Dark Fate. This was supposed to be the true sequel to Terminator 2, retconning all the other movies, and would be the start of a brand new trilogy. But despite decent reviews, the movie bombed so hard, with losses of about $130 million, that the Terminator property is pretty much dead. Tragic!

 

So that was a lot. Thankfully the next batch of stories is a lot shorter. Ninth domestic, eighth worldwide saw the return of The Matrix yet again with The Matrix Revolutions. As I said previously, Revolutions was filmed simultaneously with Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix, in what was going to be a banner year of Matrix content. And while back-to-back filming was becoming common, Warner Bros. did the more unconventional route and released both Matrix sequels in the same calendar year, only six months apart.

 

Even in an era where we get three MCU movies a year, this is still kind of unorthodox, but after Reloaded was such a smash hit, along with Enter the Matrix selling well, it felt like Revolutions would end things on a high note. And yet, it sadly didn’t.

 

The film saw the biggest worldwide release ever, with 108 territories opening the movie at 1400 Greenwich Mean Time on November 5. And from Wednesday to Sunday, it generated $83.8 million domestically, about 62% of what Reloaded generated in its first four days. While the film’s opening wasn’t horrible, and it did earn about $201.4 million worldwide in those 5 days, a record unto itself, it was still a pretty harsh decline from the last Matrix film, and as the big finale to The Matrix saga, it should have gone out with more fanfare.

 

Part of it could be Reloaded’s more measured reception, and part of it could be the oversaturation of The Matrix as a property in just the span of six months. However, one easy target was the film’s reception. Revolutions was a critical disappointment, with many believing it was anticlimactic, moved too far away from the philosophy that made the series famous, and the ending failed to satisfy many. And that reception was shown in the film’s legs. Due to poor word of mouth and a lot of demand already being satisfied, the film’s second weekend was only $16.4 million, a 66% drop from Revolutions’ three-day of $48.5 million. And those poor legs only accounted for a mediocre $139.3 million domestic and $427.3 million worldwide haul, a massive drop from the record-breaking Reloaded.

 

 

However, despite the poor reception and mediocre haul, The Matrix has still lived on. The MMO Matrix Online continued the story Revolutions finished off, while The Matrix: Path of Neo was a video game that allowed fans to control and play as Neo in several of the most famous scenes in the movie. But what people were most curious about was another Matrix movie.

 

The Wachowskis were uninterested in another film, but that didn’t stop Warner Bros. from trying. Initially Warner Bros. planned to develop a relaunch of the property with Michael B. Jordan set to star. But in August 2019, it was announced that Lana Wachowski would direct The Matrix 4, with Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss set to return, alongside a massive supporting cast. It was in the middle of filming until it was forced to shut down due to COVID-19, but is set to restart production this July, with a theatrical release date set for April 2022...for now.

 

Tenth place would see the family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen. It focused on the patriarchs of the Baker family, played by Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt, and their experiences raising 12 children in one house, because apparently Steve Martin doesn’t know how to pull out. After the family is forced to move after Martin’s Tom gets an offer to coach his alma mater’s football team, Hunt’s Kate plans a book tour to promote her newest work, meaning Tom has to take care of 12 rambunctious kids, all with different personalities, but have one thing they love in common: mischief. Hi-jinks ensue!

 

This was based on the 1948 autobiography of the same name, written by Frank and Ernestine Gilbreth, as the authors recall their childhood growing up in a family with 12 children. It was then adapted into a film in 1950, which saw positive reviews and solid box office. This meant a remake had solid potential, and that potential was paid off.

 

Even though the movie was panned by critics, though saw positive reviews from Ebert and Roeper, it didn’t really matter, as the film opened on Christmas Day to $7.8 million, putting in second place that holiday only below Return of the King. This also resulted in a four-day of $35.4 million, becoming the biggest December debut ever for a family film. It then legged itself out to about $138.6 million domestic and $190.2 million worldwide.

 

Its starpower certainly helped, as alongside Martin and Hunt, young actors like Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Hillary Duff, and Ashton Kutcher appeared. But simply put, its main factor to its success was its comedy. Its largely slapstick set pieces, combined with Steve Martin’s natural talents, had broad appeal across all audiences, which made it an easy sell to families who had extra time on their hands during the holidays. This was a strong silver medal that December, and helped boost director Shawn Levy, who would go on to have a decent career as a director, with films like Night at the Museum, which we’ll get to in 2006, Date Night, Real Steel, and the upcoming Ryan Reynolds film Free Guy. He would also have a good career as a producer, with films like The Spectacular Now and Arrival, but of course his biggest hit would be the Netflix series Stranger Things.

 

 

Cheaper by the Dozen was also the big finale to what was a banner year for Steve Martin. March saw the release of Burning Down the House where Martin co-starred with Queen Latifah, and was also a surprise hit, racking up $132 million domestically, and generating the fourth-biggest debut ever for a March release.

 

In fact, 2003 was a huge year for comedy movies in general. Not only was there Bruce Almighty, Elf, and Martin’s two hits, Adam Sandler’s Anger Management opened to $42.3 million, becoming the biggest April debut ever. Nancy Myers’ Something’s Gotta Give played well in December generating $124.7 million. Disney’s Freaky Friday was remade with Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis to great success with $110.2 million. Scary Movie 3 earned the biggest October opening weekend ever with $48.1 million. And alongside American Wedding, Daddy Day Care, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, that meant a lot of comedy hits all earning at least $100 million each.

 

In a day and age where theatrical comedy movies are a dying breed, and Adam Sandler now makes movies for Netflix, the kind of success these comedy movies and their stars generated is almost surreal to look at, and shows how important star power was for original movies and films that didn’t have a massive budget or brand recognition back in the day.

 

In 2005, Cheaper by the Dozen 2 was released, but it got even worse reviews, and lost about a third of its audience. Since the Fox acquisition, Disney announced they were in the process of developing a Cheaper by the Dozen remake set to debut on Disney+.

[Eric Atreides]

Eleventh domestic, tenth worldwide was the return of the dream team of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence with Bad Boys II. Released in 1995, the first Bad Boys was a far bigger turning point for the cast and crew than one might expect. Originally a buddy comedy starring Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz, this action comedy not only featured Will Smith and Martin Lawrence fresh off their sitcom work, but it was also the directorial debut of then-unknown Michael Bay, who earned the role after super producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson saw his music video work. Thanks to its fun action, Miami setting, and heavy improv from its two stars, Bad Boys was a solid hit, earning $141 million worldwide on a $19 million budget.

 

But between 1995 and 2003, things were going over very well for Smith and Bay. Will Smith became the biggest leading man in Hollywood at the time, while Michael Bay was also finding great success, with The Rock becoming a hit over at Touchstone, Armageddon becoming the biggest movie worldwide in 1998, and Pearl Harbor seeing strong, if overhyped success.

 

This meant Sony was pretty eager to have Bad Boys return again, and thus a sequel arrived in 2003, seeing Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowry investigating a flow of illegal drugs going into Miami by a Cuban drug lord. Despite being panned by critics, Bad Boys II opened to $46.5 million, triple the first Bad Boys’ opening weekend, and earned about $138.6 million domestic, more than double the first movie’s $65.8 million, and $273.3 million worldwide, almost twice the first movie’s $141 million haul. However, the bigger issue comes with cost. With Bay and Smith commanding heavy salaries, and the film garnering a huge production cost for some good ol’ Bayhem, the film saw a $130 million pricetag. The film would still be considered a success, but it wasn’t this massive moneymaker.

 

 

But still, it was considered a hit, and has seen re-evaluation and re-appraisal in the years to come. In 2019, Gabrielle Union’s character in the movie saw a television spin-off called L.A.’s Finest where she pairs up with Jessica Alba. Despite being savaged by critics, a second season is set to release this year. And in 2020, 13 years later, Bad Boys returned in a big way.

 

14th place would see another Marvel Comics adaptation that did not have the same level of success as X2. It’s here we see the Ang Lee film Hulk. With the immense popularity of the Hulk character, along with the popularity of the Bill Bixby television series, producers Avi Arad and Gale Ann Hurd set up a Hulk adaptation at Universal Studios in 1992. Stan Lee and Goldeneye writer Michael France were invited to Universal’s offices in 1993 for a Hulk movie with France writing the script. Later John Hurman, a fan of Hulk, was asked to write the script in 1994. Though Universal was mixed on the plot, some of Hurman’s elements would be used in future rewrites.

 

Later Hurd brought her husband Jonathan Hensleigh on board, who both rewrote a new script detailing The Hulk fighting three convicts that were also hit by gamma radiation, and was set to make his directorial debut with this movie. The film was set to start production in 1997 for a summer 1999 release date, but Hulk was put on hiatus because of the rising costs and hesitance from Universal executives over Hensleigh directing his first film.

 

Hensleigh later dropped out after the film wasn’t going anywhere, so Michael France managed to convince the Universal executives for eight months to have another go at the movie. France’s draft put greater emphasis on the 80s run of the comics, which focused on Bruce Banner’s abusive father Brian. Michael Tolkin and David Hayter would then take uncredited rewrites on the script. Eventually, the script landed in the hands of Ang Lee and his producing partner James Schamus. Lee was dissatsifed with Hayter’s script, which meant James Schamus had to rewrite the screenplay yet again. When filming was underway in 2002, Michael France was not happy Schamus and Hayter’s actions. They claimed they were making Bruce a deeper character and both him and Turman’s work was denigrated during the scripting process. While Schamus elected himself as the solo writer, he took a lot of elements from France’s and Turman’s script that the WGA decided to give all three men final credit on the movie.

 

 

When Hulk first released on June 20, the film managed to earn over $62.1 million in its opening weekend, becoming the biggest June debut in history, usurping The Spy Who Shagged Me. It seemed like this was going to pay off handsomely for Universal and keep the Marvel mania alive. However, it was not to be.

 

When it was released, the film saw a very polarizing response. People expected a movie heavy on action and special effects, so when the film focused more on drama, tragedy, and the more introspective aspects of Bruce Banner, it was not warmly received by many critics, and especially among fanboys. This resulted in a catastrophic second weekend drop of almost 70%, and terrible legs that resulted in the film only barely doubling its OW, with about $132.2 million domestically and $245.3 million worldwide.

 

A sequel was set for release in 2005, but due to the mixed reception and Universal unable to meet Ang Lee’s established deadline for filming, it never got made. Since then, Hulk was transferred to Marvel Studios, was rebooted in 2008 with Edward Norton, was replaced by Mark Ruffalo in 2012, and has become a staple character in the MCU.

 

And as the years have gone on, Ang Lee’s film has garnered far more appreciation in critical circles for its artistic and story differences that make it unique from other Marvel and DC productions. So I guess it all worked out in the end.

 

15th place was 2 Fast 2 Furious, still the greatest sequel title ever conceived by man. Taking place in Miami, this sees Paul Walker return as Brian O’Connor, where he teams up with his old friend Roman Pierce, played by Tyrese Gibson in order to apprehend a drug lord in exchange for the erasure of their criminal records.

 

After The Fast and the Furious became a surprise hit and developed a strong fanbase, a sequel was immediately greenlit. Director John Singleton saw the first film and instantly fell in love with it, especially as he grew up in South Central LA, where the movie took place and street racing were common. This led to him wanting to direct the sequel, and thankfully producer Neal H. Moritz approved.

 

Paul Walker returned immediately after filming the movie Timeline, but as for Vin Diesel, he was offered $25 million to reprise his role as Dom Toretto. However, he rejected the movie because he was not a fan of the script. Said Diesel, “They didn't take a Francis Ford Coppola approach to it. They approached it like they did sequels in the '80s and '90s, when they would drum up a new story unrelated for the most part, and slap the same name on it." Vin would sign on for The Chronicles of Riddick instead.

 

This meant Paul Walker needed a new actor to play off of. Enter Tyrese, who worked with John Singleton in 2001’s Baby Boy, which was his acting debut, in the role of Roman Pearce, Brian’s childhood friend. As for Tej Parker, a race host and another friend of Brian, the role was initially given to Ja Rule, who appeared in the first movie. Ja Rule was offered $500,000 for the role of Tej, a massive upgrade from the $15,000 paycheck he received from the last movie. Yet Singleton said later, “Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. ... He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn't return calls." This meant the role would be given to Ludacris, a relatively obscure rapper at the time, who saw massive popularity upon the film’s release, which resulted in future acting work in films like Crash and Hustle & Flow.

 

 

Looking at Vin Diesel’s reactions and his rejection of the script, it seems like it was a bad decision, or that Vin was being too pretentious over a car movie...and you're right. However, I feel that Vin Diesel rejecting 2 Fast 2 Furious was a blessing for the franchise as a whole. If both Diesel and Walker returned, it probably would have made more money at the box office. But by letting Brian move to Miami, and allow characters like Roman and Tej the chance at the spotlight, this allowed the world of Fast and Furious to grow. There were more new characters, new locations, and new ideas thrown in to make things more interesting and help people invest in the franchise as a whole, and result in way more sequels, instead of what would have likely been more of the same, and probably tap out after three or four movies.

 

When 2 Fast 2 Furious was released on June 6, the sequel opened to $50.5 million, which was just over $10 million more than what the first movie generated, and finished with about $127.1 million domestic and $236.3 million worldwide, on par with what The Fast and the Furious generated. This showed there was still gas in the tank (I know) in the franchise, with or without Vin Diesel. And with producers Neal Moritz smartly expanding the world, the seeds were sowed for something even greater in the years to come.

 

Going down to 20th place sees the 6th biggest film worldwide; the Tom Cruise starrer The Last Samurai. Cruise plays Nathan Algren, a 19th-century United States captain hired by the Japanese empire in 1876 to improve their armed forces and stop a Samurai-headed rebellion towards the government. But after he is kidnapped by the Samurai, they enlighten Algren with the ways of the samurai, which result in Algren becoming a true warrior and fighting for the people he was assigned to suppress.

 

This film was based on an original screenplay written by John Logan of Gladiator fame, who took inspiration from the stories of Jules Burnet, a French army captain who fought with the Japanese during the Boshin War, and Frederick Townsend Ward, an American mercenary who formed the Ever Victorious Army in China. Logan’s story was inspired by filmmaker Vincent Ward, who considered The Last Samurai a passion project of his. Ward would become an executive producer on the film, developed it for about four years, and approached several directors, including Francis Ford Coppola and Peter Weir and managed to find a match with Edward Zwick, best known for films like Glory and Courage Under Fire.

 

Despite being set in Japan, the film was actually shot in New Zealand, specifically the Taraniki region, because it was Ward’s homeland, and Mount Taraniki had a strong resemblance to Mount Fuji. Of course, Kyoto and Himeji were filming locations.

 

 

On its release on December 5, critical and box office reception were pretty positive. It opened on the first weekend of December, a rarity for tentpole movies like this, and generated a decent $24.3 million on its opening weekend, resulting in a solid $111.1 million gross, with decent reviews from critics and audiences.

 

Japan however was the real story here. The film launched the same weekend in the US, and grossed $8.3 million in its first weekend. And in the weeks to come, it launched itself all the way to $119.3 million in the region, becoming one of the biggest box office hits in Japanese box office history. These two markets helped propel the film to an astonishing $456.8 million worldwide. Japanese critical reception, as well as its respect towards Japanese history and culture was also well-recieved. Tomomi Katsua of The Mainchi Shinbun gave respect towards the film, stating “[Edward Zwick] had researched Japanese history, cast well-known Japanese actors and consulted dialogue coaches to make sure he didn't confuse the casual and formal categories of Japanese speech." However Katsua was not a fan of the idealistic portrayal of the samurai, as the image of the samurai to the Japanese is much more corrupt.

 

In fact, a lot of aspects of the film have garnered criticism in the years since its release for understandable reasons. History professor Cathy Schultz stated “Many samurai fought Meiji modernization not for altruistic reasons but because it challenged their status as the privileged warrior caste. Meiji reformers proposed the radical idea that all men essentially being equal ... The film also misses the historical reality that many Meiji policy advisors were former samurai, who had voluntarily given up their traditional privileges to follow a course they believed would strengthen Japan." There’s also concerns over the movie and how it portrays a white savior narrative with Tom Cruise taking up the samurai mantle and saving its culture, which...yeah that’s not great.

 

But regardless, the film still found its audience and appreciation all the same.

 

For the last film I wanted to highlight for 2003, I wanted to focus on a real box office stinker, because 2003 had quite a lot of those. And while Gigli and From Justin to Kelly were good candidates, I think probably the one film that fits this best is the Tommy Wiseau classic The Room. Yes, we’re going there.

 

Initially The Room was set to be a play, but was then adapted into a 500-page book that failed to get any publishing. Fed up with this world, Tommy Wiseau decided to adapt his script into a film, with him as producer so he had complete creative control. Wiseau has been very secretive over how he got the funds for his project.

 

And thus, the production from hell was born. Wiseau had never directed before, and spent $6 million on production and marketing. This film became so expensive for an independent production, because many of the cast and crew members had to be replaced, including the actor set to play Mark, and also an unorthodox camera setup. Wiseau did not know the difference between 35mm film and HD video, so he decided he would be the first director to film a movie with two different cameras simultaneously through a custom-built apparatus that required two camera crews to operate. Only the 35mm footage was used. Also, sets were made even though it was way easier to shoot on location, unnecessary equipment was bought, and scenes were shot multiple times on different sets.

 

 

The script was cut down considerably by a script supervisor, with many incomprehensible monologues, though several catchphrases said by Wiseau’s character Johnny, and other characters in the film remained in tact. Wiseau also wanted to reveal that Johnny was a vampire, but it was scrapped because he couldn’t think of a practical way to make his car fly to reveal his vampiric nature. Also of note, the character Peter, played by Kyle Vogt, was supposed to play a pivotal role in the climax, but Vogt was only available for a limited time, so his big scene was given to a guy who was never introduced or addressed by name in the film itself.

 

The film’s marketing campaign was an interesting one. Not only was The Room sold as “a film with the passion of Tennessee Williams”, but its only promotion was a single billboard in Los Angeles, featuring an image of Wiseau he refers to as “Evil Man”. Despite the film’s failure, Wiseau kept the billboard up for over five years, paying $5,000 a month, and becoming a minor tourist attraction. How did Wiseau keep it up for so long? Well, as Wiseau states: “Well, we like the location, and we like the billboard. So we feel that people should see The Room. [...] we are selling DVDs, which are selling okay."

 

 

When it was released on June 27, 2003, the film played in the Laemmle Fairfax and Fallbrook theaters for two weeks, and after becoming panned by critics for its acting, writing, direction, cinematography, and everything else about it. In those two weeks, the film only generated $1,800 before it was pulled. However, one of the film’s few attendees was Michael Rousselet, who you may know from the film group and YouTube channel 5 Second Films. Rousselet was in love with the film and how terrible it was, treating the screening as his own MST3K. He encouraged his friends to join him for future showings to mock the film, resulting in as many as 100 people attending the film’s final screening. Rousselet then contacted Wiseau and talked about how much he and his friends loved the film, which resulted in Wiseau releasing a midnight screening of the film on June 2004. The impressive attendance resulted in another screening in July. Then another in August. Sure enough, The Room certified itself as a cult classic, and even garnered celebrity fans, including Paul Rudd, Will Arnett, Patton Oswalt, Tim and Eric, Kristen Bell, Seth Rogen, and the Franco brothers.

 

Sure enough, these midnight screenings were happening all across the world, with some theaters taking part in monthly screenings. Fans interacted with the film in a similar fasion to Rocky Horror, where audiences dressed up like the characters, threw spoons at the screen, throw footballs at each other, and both mock the movie and recite lines from the movie itself. Wiseau claimed he intended for people to find humor in the film, but the rest of the cast, and anyone with eyes, argue it was just a poorly-made drama.

 

Since then, the legacy of The Room has soldiered on. In 2013, Greg Sestero, a close friend of Wiseau and the actor who played Mark, wrote The Disaster Artist, a book that detailed the crazy production history of The Room. It became so successful and so popular that in 2017, James Franco directed and played Wiseau in a film adaptation of The Disaster Artist released by A24, which grossed $29.8 million and earned Franco a Golden Globe win for his portrayal as Wiseau.

 

Sure enough, despite the low box office, The Room arguably had a bigger legacy and cultural impact than most of the movies I mentioned here tonight.

 

And that’s just a sampling of what 2003 was all about. There’s still plenty more to discuss that I can’t get to. SWAT was a TV show adaptation that was another vehicle for producer Neal Moritz post-F&F that paid off okay. Seabiscuit was an Oscar darling and made Gary Ross a director superstar. Spy Kids 3-D finished off the iconic trilogy (the fourth movie never happened!) by becoming the biggest movie in the franchise worldwide. The Italian Job kept the heist movie alive and thriving. Daredevil opened to the second-biggest February debut ever, yet only barely crossed $100 million. The Cat in the Hat and The Haunted Mansion were two costly family film adaptations that did mediocre business, were despised by everyone, and were disgraces to their original source material. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle did on par with the last movie, but failed to keep the franchise alive. Master and Commander was a costly epic that required Fox, Miramax, and Universal to produce to lukewarm results. Legally Blonde 2 continued to build on Reese Witherspoon’s new popularity.

 

Cold Mountain and Mystic River saw box office in the $90 million range and award wins for their actors. Brother Bear opened on a Saturday to mixed reviews but decent box office. Slashers came back strong with both Freddy vs. Jason and the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. School of Rock put Jack Black into the mainstream. Kill Bill Vol. 1 was Tarantino’s homage to grindhouse cinema, and became his biggest film since Pulp Fiction. Kangaroo Jack tricked kids into thinking they were watching a talking kangaroo movie, and Jerry Bruckheimer laughed all the way to the bank. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen saw its director Stephen Norrington and star Sean Connery fight so much, Norrington left Hollywood altogether. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Circle of Life was an ill-fated sequel that dropped like a rock from its predecessor. Love Actually did okay in the US, but was a massive hit in the UK, and has become a Christmas classic unto itself. Underworld saw its debut. Universal tried to bring back Peter Pan to massive box office losses. Lost in Translation put Sofia Coppola into the mainstream. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas was such a bomb it almost put Dreamworks Pictures itself out of business. Looney Tunes: Back in Action was a major flop that killed the theatrical chances for any more Looney Tunes productions. Boat Trip was one of the many films that destroyed Cuba Gooding Jr.’s career. And lastly, The Lizzie McGuire Movie...came out I guess.

 

This was 2003

 

 

 

[Brainbug]

The Last Samurai is one of my favourite movies of the 2000s despite its obvious historical flaws. Just such a well-crafted movie with amazing perfomances, especially from Ken Watanabe. I love the fact that the entire second act of the film is just so ... character-driven and non-bombastic while the finale delivers the action craziness. Also the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is great.

[titanic2187]

Just realised how successful it was for New Line cinema in 2003 with LOTR3 and Elf.

 

All glory to demise in just 5 years

[redfirebird2008]

On 6/21/2020 at 7:28 PM, Eric Baggins said:

But after jumping through so many hoops just to get made, only to be mocked upon its release, Eisner had to eat some humble pie. Opening on July 9,  Black Pearl's  5-Day opening was a very impressive $70.6 million, which was higher than Terminator 3’s 5-Day opening a week earlier (we’ll get to that). It certainly relaxed and put the executives at ease. But what nobody expected was how much people loved it. For the rest of the summer, and into the fall, people were going gaga for the movie, spreading word of mouth to friends and family, and coming back for repeat viewings. This resulted in an astonishing $305.4 million domestic haul, 4.32x its 5-Day opening, and putting the movie ahead of every other non-Nemo film that summer, all of which had more hype going in. International business was great to, as the film opened at #1 and stayed #1 overseas for 7 weeks, tying Men in Black II’s record. With $348.8 million internationally, this resulted in a fantastic $654.3 million. So much for a dead genre.

 

 

 

This movie was so unique and so well-done compared to everything else that it got people excited and interested in it. They loved the supernatural elements, the swordfighting, the production design, and the money clearly on the screen. They loved seeing pirates at a time when they were nonexistent in movies. And most importantly, they loved Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. His role as the bumbling drunkard rock star was the highlight of the film, unconventional from typical heroes and a unique take among pirate movies and adventure movies. This even led to an Oscar nomination for Johnny Depp.

 

 

To this day, Black Pearl in the theater was one of the best experiences I've had with an audience. Walking out of that movie, there was a very strong buzz from the people in the crowd. Of course the movie had very strong legs at the time. But I don't think it was truly clear how much people loved it until the massive DVD sales followed by the sequel blowing up into a billion dollar box office monster at a time when $1 billion box office was extremely rare. 

[filmlover]

Yeah, Pirates was expected to be one of the big flops of the summer heading into the season. That it turned out to be an acclaimed blockbuster was a real "dreams come true" moment for King Mickey.

[redfirebird2008]

Come to think of it, Black Pearl would be an excellent choice for movie theaters to play right now as they try to attract some audiences during the pandemic. My local theater has played the likes of Jaws, Jurassic Park, and this coming weekend they will be playing Avengers 1, Last Showman, Zootopia. These are all very good choices. Black Pearl fits the bill of a very popular movie people might want to see on the big screen again.

[baumer]

@Eric Baggins another monumental write-up this time for 2003. So much information in here that I had no idea about. You're right up on curse of the Black Pearl was just a wealth of information and so much of it I had no clue about until I read your write up.

 

I loved your outpouring of support and love and research on The room as well. It really is one of the most entertaining films I've ever seen. I mean it's horrible but in a really really good and entertaining way.

 

Thanks for all the time and effort and research that you're putting into this. I can't wait for 2004 now.