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

[Kalo]

12 hours ago, Sterling said:

Looking forward to the Scream write-up! It was the first horror movie I can remember seeing and the one I credit with turning me into a horror fan. I had just turned six when it came out in theaters and I wasn't allowed to see R-rated movies at the time. When it finally came to Blockbuster, I distinctly remember devising a plan to put the Scream VHS inside the rental box of a kids movie and hoping the clerk wouldn't notice at checkout. To my surprise it worked; the teenager at the counter didn't even bother opening the case! I made it home and ran to my room to start watching, still in disbelief that I had actually gotten away with it. I was hooked from the opening minute and watched with a mix of terror and excitement as the events unfolded on screen. My eyes were glued to the TV and I didn't notice my mom walk into the room before it was too late. In a serious case of unfortunate timing, she walked in right as Ghostface stabbed Drew Barrymore for the first time. Needless to say she made me turn it off and return it to Blockbuster that night. I wouldn't get to see the whole thing until years later. 

 

The fact that I only got to see that opening tease when I was six elevated Scream to this kind of mythical status in my childhood. Those 10 minutes I saw were so good that I could only imagine what the rest of the movie had in store. I can't remember how old I was when I finally saw it in its entirety, but the long wait in-between made the viewing experience that much more sweet.

I just watched Scream for the first time this year, and I've seen it twice already, I loved it, It's actually my favorite Wes Craven film, haven't seen the sequels yet because I am planning to do a Scream marathon with my nephew when I visit MI next month. 

Edited July 31, 2017 by Kalo

[baumer]

 

 

FINALLY COMPLETED....INCLUDING MY TRIBUTE TO SCREAM!

 

So here are the first six films of 1996...this is all raw, and unedited......

 

 

1996

 

A massive year for the bix office, at least for the top ten.  And not just domestically but on a WW scale, things took off.

 

Finishing number one for the year is the film that took Will Smith's career into a different stratosphere and it made a household name of the director, Roland Emmerich.  Independence Day took the world by storm.  Independence Day is a science fiction action film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. The film focuses on disparate groups of people who converge in the Nevada desert in the aftermath of a worldwide attack by an extraterrestrial race of unknown origin. Along with the rest of the world, they launch a last-ditch counterattack on July 4 – Independence Day in the United States.

While promoting Stargate in Europe, Emmerich came up with the idea for the film when fielding a question about his own belief in the existence of alien life. He and Dean Devlin decided to incorporate a large-scale attack having noticed that aliens in most invasion films travel long distances in outer space only to remain hidden when reaching Earth. Shooting began in July 1995 in New York City, and the film was officially completed on June 20, 1996.

Now considered to be a significant turning point in the history of the Hollywood blockbuster, the film was released worldwide on July 3, 1996, but began showing on July 2 (the same day the film's story begins) on limited release as a result of a high level of anticipation among moviegoers. The film grossed over $817.4 million worldwide, easily becoming the highest-grossing film of 1996, and briefly, the second highest-grossing film worldwide of all time behind 1993's Jurassic Park. 

 

 

Independence Day, like Jurassic Park three years earlier, used special effects to tell a story and they did it brilliantly.  A then-record 3,000-plus special effects shots would ultimately be required for the film. The shoot utilized on-set, in-camera special effects more often than computer-generated effects in an effort to save money.  Many of these shots were accomplished at Hughes Aircraft in Culver City, California, where the film's art department, motion control photography teams, pyrotechnics team, and model shop were headquartered. The production's model-making department built more than twice as many miniatures for the production than had ever been built for any film before by creating miniatures for buildings, city streets, aircraft, landmarks, and monuments.  The crew also built miniatures for several of the spaceships featured in the film, including a 30-foot destroyer model and a version of the mother ship spanning 12 feet.  City streets were recreated, then tilted upright beneath a high-speed camera mounted on a scaffolding filming downwards. An explosion would be ignited below the model, and flames would rise towards the camera, engulfing the tilted model and creating the rolling "wall of destruction" look seen in the film. A model of the White House was also created, and was used in forced-perspective shots before being destroyed in a similar fashion for its destruction scene. The detonation took a week to plan and required 40 explosive charges.

 

 

The special effects were top notch and it managed to get the audience into the film and truly feel like they were witnessing an alien invasion.  For me personally, I felt this way when watching V-The Final Battle, the mini-series in the 80's starring Marc Singer and Michael Ironside.  But after V, it went missing.  The other thing that V did better than most is it gave us characters that we could relate to, laugh at and with and it gave us heroes from the yeoman, the every day man and woman.  This is somthing Independence Day as well and although Devlin and Emmerich never mentioned this in my research, it wouldn't surprise me if they used V as inspiration.  IMO, there were four lead actors in this.  Yes, Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum were the nucleus but almost as important were Randy Quaid as the former Vietnam fighter pilot and current alcoholic father and of course the president of the United States, played by Bill Pullman.  All four have heroic moments, all four have great lines and speeches and all four contribute to winning the war against the aliens.  Independence Day is a tiny bit jingoistic but at the same time, this speech by the president gives me chills and I think it did for many: 

 

Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind.

Mankind -- that word should have new meaning for all of us today.

We can't be consumed by our petty differences anymore.

We will be united in our common interests.

Perhaps its fate that today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom, not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution -- but from annihilation.

We're fighting for our right to live, to exist.

And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday, but as the day when the world declared in one voice:

"We will not go quietly into the night!

We will not vanish without a fight!

We're going to live on!

We're going to survive!"

Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!

 

 Independence Day was made on a shoestring budget of 75 million and took in 306 million domestically to win the year easily.

 

Number two for the year and perhaps just as reliant on special effects to assist in telling a story was the tornado chasing extravaganza, Twister.  Twister is a disaster film starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as storm chasers researching tornadoes. It was directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin. It was executive produced by Steven Spielberg.

In the film, a team of storm chasers tries to perfect a data-gathering instrument, designed to be released into the funnel of a tornado, while competing with another better-funded team with a similar device during a tornado outbreak across Oklahoma. The plot is a dramatized view of research projects like VORTEX of the NOAA. The device used in the movie, called "Dorothy", is copied from the real-life TOTO, used in the 1980s by NSSL.

 

Twister, in some ways, is cookie cutter.  But in others, it's revolutionary and not just because of the special effects.  You have two teams of storm chasers.  Paxton's team is just a bunch of nerdy good old boys and girls who have terrific camaraderie with one another.  The other team is lead by our beloved Wesley from the Princess Bride, Cary Elwes.  This team drives all black, tough looking corporate vehicles and they have state of the art equipment and are as evil as one is allowed to be in a film like this.  But Bill's team love each other and they aren't doing it for the money, they are doing it for humanity.  The contrast between the two teams is at times, humourous as De Bont lays it on extra thick.  But for the good guys, you have some terrific bantering an playful interactions.  It also helps that you have two future Oscar winners and one of the all time loved supporting actors, who finally got his chance to lead a film.  

 

 

Phillip Seymour Hoffman is maybe the best part of the film, from the actors side.  He plays his role as the ever gregarious and thrilled with life, jolly nerd to perfection.  He's got a perpetual smile and everything is fun and light in his eyes.  Even when they are faced with possible death, he views everything as a rush.  Helen Hunt looks terrific in her white tank top and her and Bill have instant chemistry from the moment they are on screen together.  There's a subplot about Bill needing Joe (Hunt) to sign divorce papers so he can move along with his fiance (the gorgeous Jami Gertz).  Right away you can feel that Bill and Melissa (Gertz) are wrong for each other and that Bill should be with Jo.

 

But the real star of the movie is the special effects.  There are perhaps half a dozen electrifying and devastatingly intense scenes involving tornadoes and the destruction they can leave behind.  It's also famous for the flying cows.  I'm not sure there's ever been a flying cow scene before Twister but it was one of the scenes that created water cooler talk.  

 

Twister was not without its share of controversy behind the scenes.  Both Bill and Helen were temporarily blinded when some special effects shots didn't go as planned.  Their full sight was not restored until three days later.  Some of the crew quit as well when they found De bont too demanding and not in control of the shoot.  Joss Whedon was also brought in to script doctor (it seems he did touch ups on a million different projects in the 90's) and by the end of the film, de Bont was his own DP as the original one quit as well.

 

     

 

But, putting all of that aside, Twister was a monstrous hit grossing almost 500 million WW and 241 million in the US on a budget of about 90 million after some reshoots.

 

Coming in at number three both domestically and WW was the successful launch to what would become Tom Cruise's most successful film property, Mission: Impossible.  Mission: Impossible is an action spy film directed by Brian De Palma, produced by and starring Tom Cruise. Based on the television series of the same name, the plot follows Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his mission to uncover the mole who has framed him for the murders of his entire IMF team. Work on the script had begun early with filmmaker Sydney Pollack on board, before De Palma, Steven Zaillian, David Koepp, and Robert Towne (Towne was the Joss Whedon of script doctoring before Whedon became Whedon) were brought in. Mission: Impossible went into pre-production without a shooting script. De Palma came up with some action sequences, but Koepp and Towne were dissatisfied with the story that led up to those events.

 

Mission Impossible has become famous for its elaborate stunts, each film seemingly upping the ante from the last.  For the first film, the final stunt took place aboard a moving train.  This proved to be a monumental task.  Cruise wanted to use the famously fast French train the TGV  but rail authorities did not want any part of the stunt performed on their trains. When that was no longer a problem, the track was not available. De Palma visited railroads on two continents trying to get permission. Cruise took the train owners out to dinner and the next day they were allowed to use it.

 

 

 For the actual sequence, the actor wanted wind that was so powerful that it could knock him off the train. Cruise had difficulty finding the right machine that would create the wind velocity that would look visually accurate before remembering a simulator he used while training as a skydiver. The only machine of its kind in Europe was located and acquired. Cruise had it produce winds up to 140 miles per hour so it would distort his face. Exterior shots of the train were filmed on the Glasgow South Western Line, between New Cumnock, Dumfries and Annan. Most of the sequence, however, was filmed on a stage against a blue screen for later digitizing by the visual effects team at Industrial Light & Magic.

 

The filmmakers delivered the film on time and under budget with Cruise doing most of his own stunts. However all was not well between DePalma and Cruise as rumours swirled that they did not get along at all.  DePalma even removed himself at the very last minute from media interviews.  He did not return for any of the sequels.  However, the film was a huge success bringing in 185 million domestic, 457 WW and had a budget of 80 million.

 

Further solidifying Cruise's hold on the title of most bankable star in the world, was the film at number four.  Jerry Maguire did huge business in North America as it made 153 million.  WW it did a little less gangbusters as it finished the year at number 9 with 273 million.  Jerry Maguire is a romantic comedy-drama written, produced and directed by Cameron Crowe, and stars Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Renée Zellweger. Produced in part by long time Simpsons producer James L. Brooks, it was inspired by sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who acted as Technical Consultant on the crew. It was released in North American theaters on December 13, 1996, produced by Gracie Films and distributed by TriStar Pictures.

The film received critical acclaim, with critics praising its acting and writing. 

The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Tom Cruise, with Cuba Gooding Jr. winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. The film was also nominated for three Golden Globes, with Tom Cruise winning for Best Actor, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, with Cuba Gooding Jr. winning Best Supporting Actor.

 

 

Number five for the year was the Mel Gibson/Ron Howard film, Ransom.  Ransom is a crime thriller directed by Ron Howard and written by Richard Price and Alexander Ignon. The film stars Mel Gibson, Rene Russo, Gary Sinise, Brawley Nolte, Delroy Lindo (who for about a decade, was in everything), Liev Schreiber, Evan Handler, Donnie Wahlberg, and Lili Taylor. Gibson was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor.

 

Produced for 80 million, it took in 136 million and 310 million WW.  There were many actors who turned down roles because of the touchy subject matter of putting a child in danger.  Since only a few are reading this, I will give you a little spoiler about Apes.  Apes, imo, isn't doing as well as it should because it's a film that is cruel to the apes, subjugating and torturing them.  It's a rule in Hollywood, you can't kill or hurt an animal or a child.  Apes is suffering because of this rule.  So why does Ransom work?  Well, the child in danger here never really has anything physically violent happen to him and the comeuppance dished upon to the kidnappers, is final and it is violent.  Gibson does what any father would do, he kicks the holy fucking shit out of his son's kidnapper and then kills him.  That's why it works.  

 

 

Disney strikes again, this time at number six both domestically and WW.  101 Dalmatians is a live-action family comedy based on Walt Disney's animated 1961 movie adaptation of Dodie Smith's 1956 novel The Hundred and One Dalmatians. Directed by Stephen Herek and co-produced by John Hughes, it stars Glenn Close, Jeff Daniels, Joely Richardson, Joan Plowright, Hugh Laurie, Mark Williams and Tim McInnerny. In contrast with the 1961 film, none of the animals talk in this version. Released on November 27, 1996 by Walt Disney Pictures, the film was praised for its faithfulness to the animated classic. It received mixed reviews, but was a commercial success, grossing $320.6 million in theaters against a $75 million budget. Close, who was universally praised for her portrayal as Cruella de Vil, was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, but lost to Madonna in Evita. The film was also nominated for a BAFTA award for best makeup effects. A theatrical sequel titled 102 Dalmatians was released on November 22, 2000.

 

 

 

I'm not a big animation guy, but the plot of 101 Dalmatians is something that intrigued me and something I grew to appreciate more over time.  The plot is a lot more sinister than kids are lead to believe.  The main antagonist, Cruella de Vil, has a deep passion for fur.  This is the the company line.  But passion is the wrong word.  Evil obsession is a better way to describe it.  So teh plot of the film is that she wants to use the dalmatians as fur.  She's already gotten a friend to skin a tiger from a local zoo so that she can use it as a rug.  

 

The fur industry is notorious for its cruelty and deliberate suffering it causes many animals.  This of course is never touched on in gory detail in the film, but the evil villain wants to kill cute dogs for their fur.  This is crazy enough, and to include this in a Disney film was surprising to say the least.  

 

101 Dalmatians took in 136.1 million, finishing less than half a million behind Ransom.

 

Coming in at number seven was the film that basically launched the career of one of the highest grossing directors of all time.  Sure, Michael Bay did Bad Boy before this but The Rock showcased his incredible talent for making jingoistic and frenetically paced films.  I'm not sure if there is any director who is more polarizing than he is, but love him, like him or don't care for him, the one thing that cannot be denied is that the man can direct action and he has a huge loonie like following.  

 

 

The Rock is an action thriller produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, and written by David Weisberg and Douglas S. Cook. The film stars Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris, with William Forsythe and Michael Biehn co-starring. It is dedicated to Simpson, who died five months before its release. The film received moderately positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing at the 69th Academy Awards. It was a box office success, grossing over $335 million WW and 134 million domestic against a production budget of $75 million.

In the film, an FBI chemist and a former SAS captain are tasked with stopping a group of rogue US Force Recon Marines who have seized Alcatraz Island, taken hostages, and threatened to launch rockets filled with nerve gas over San Francisco unless they are paid $100 million.

 

 

One of my personal favourite stories from the shoot of this film is that Michael Bay and Disney were at odds over the way he was making the film.  Bay was still a new kid of the block and Disney is Disney.  So they called Bay in for a meeting.  Just as he was about to leave the set for the meeting, he was approached by Sean Connery, in full golf attire.  Connery was a producer on the film and asked Bay if he would mind if he accompanied him at the meeting.  Bay had no idea what the meeting was about and Sean being Sea, Bay was thrilled to have him "tag along".  When Bay walked in the conference room with Connery, the executives were shocked to say the least.  Connery, according to Bay, told the executives that Bay was doing a great job and that they should stay out of the film and leave him alone.  That was the last time Bay had any interference on the set.  

 

The Rock is everything I love about action movies and about Bay.  I've said this before and it bears repeating.  Bay does things that other directors don't or can't.  For some that's an annoyance, for me, it's pure joy and causes adrenaline induced nirvana.  I love what Bay does with his camera to tell a story.  I think a lot of that started on Bad Boys, but it was perfected on The Rock.  The helicopters against the sun, the 360 camera pan as a character does something heroic, the slo motion action piece and so on.  All of that is here.  All of that makes the Rock one of the best action films of all time.  

 

The film was selected for a limited edition DVD release by the Criterion Collection, a distributor of primarily arthouse films it categorizes as "important classic and contemporary films" and "cinema at its finest". In an essay supporting the selection of The Rock, Roger Ebert, who was strongly critical of most of Bay's later films, gave the film a 3 1/2 out of four stars, calling it "an action picture that rises to the top of the genre because of a literate, witty screenplay and skilled craftsmanship in the direction and special effects."

 

Number eight was one of Eddie Murphy's biggest hits post 1987.  The Nutty Professor is a comedy science fiction starring Eddie Murphy. It is a remake of the 1963 film of the same name, which starred Jerry Lewis, which itself was a parody of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. The film co-stars Jada Pinkett, James Coburn, Larry Miller, Dave Chappelle. The film won Best Makeup at the 69th Academy Awards. 

 

 

 

Murphy portrays a university professor, Sherman Klump, a kind-hearted man who is morbidly obese. A research scientist, academic, and lecturer, Klump develops a miraculous, but experimental, weight-loss pharmaceutical, and hoping to win the affection of the girl of his dreams, tests it upon himself. Like the original film's Julius Kelp, Klump's vigorous, charismatic, but evil alter ego takes the name "Buddy Love". Murphy plays a total of seven characters in the film, including Sherman, most of Sherman's family (except for his nephew, Ernie Klump Jr. played by child actor Jamal Mixon), and an over-the-top parody of Richard Simmons.

 

The Nutty Professor was the first Tom Shadyac film to feature outtakes over the closing credits. The film also has a series of scenes with Murphy and comedian Dave Chappelle who plays insult comic, Reggie Warrington. Much of their dialogue was improvised.[citation needed] Murphy was one of Chappelle's biggest comedic influences.  Reggie Warrington is named after Reginald and Warrington Hudlin, brothers, and directors of one of Murphy's previous films, Boomerang.

 

While the film was made with the help of Jerry Lewis (he was an executive producer for both this film and the 2000 sequel The Klumps), he later recanted his position in an interview in the January 30/February 6, 2009 edition of Entertainment Weekly magazine. He was quoted as saying, "I have such respect for Eddie, but I should not have done it. What I did was perfect the first time around and all you're going to do is diminish that perfection by letting someone else do it."

 

The film grossed 128 million domestic and 274 WW on a controlled budget of 54 million.

 

Number nine is The Birdcage, which is a comedy directed by Mike Nichols, written by Elaine May, and starring Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, and Dianne Wiest. Dan Futterman, Calista Flockhart, Hank Azaria, and Christine Baranski appear in supporting roles. It is a remake of the Franco-Italian film La Cage aux Folles (1978) by Édouard Molinaro.  

The Birdcage was produced for 30 million and took in 185 WW and 124 million domestic.  

 

Robin Williams was originally cast as Albert, but he wanted a change from flamboyant characters, and asked to be cast as Armand. Mike Nichols agreed, and re-cast him.  The director had one rule for improv specialists Robin Williams and Nathan Lane;  they were required to film at least one good take of each scene sticking to the script before he would allow them to improvise.  This worked beautifully and Nichols would later say that the film had a perfect mix of both scripted and improvised takes that made the final cut of the film.  

 

 

Filmmaker and PBS producer Rick McKay was hired by director Mike Nichols, months before filming of "Birdcage" began, to go to Paris, London, San Francisco and Atlanta to make a feature length documentary about drag queens. McKay did thorough research to find drag queens all over the world to interview and to film in performance. This finished documentary was used to train Nathan Lane and Robin Williams.  This was 21 years ago, and gay culture wasn't nearly as widely accepted as it is now, so this film was a huge risk.  Nichols preparation and the commitment he got from his A-list stars, was paramount to making the film a quality one and perhaps all of this helped The Birdcage open to 18 million in March and it stayed at number one for 4 consecutive weeks.  This was a WOM monster.  

 

Number ten was the Joel Schumacher film based off John Grisham's most well known novel, A Time To Kill.  A Time to Kill is a crime drama that deals with racial tensions and violence in Mississippi.  Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey, and Kevin Spacey star, with Oliver Platt, Ashley Judd, Kiefer and Donald Sutherland, and Patrick McGoohan appearing in supporting roles. Set in Canton, Mississippi, the film involves the rape of a young girl, the arrest of the rapists, their subsequent murder by the girl's father, and the father's trial for murder. The film was a critical and commercial success, making $152 million at the worldwide box office 108 million of that coming in NA.  

 

 

A Time To Kill is perhaps my favourite Grisham novel.  He wrote a follow up to this story, years later, called Sycamore Row.  I'll get to that in a minute.  

 

Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, saying: "I was absorbed by A Time to Kill, and found the performances strong and convincing," and added that "this is the best of the film versions of Grisham novels, I think, and it has been directed with skill by Joel Schumacher."

The film was not without its detractors, however. Anthony Puccinelli gave the film one star, calling it "worthless" and remarking: "A Time to Kill argues for vigilantism but disguises its message by making the vigilante black, allowing viewers to think their blood lust and thirst for revenge is actually empathy for the oppressed." Peter Travers felt that "they [Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman] cram[med] in too much," adding, "This distracts from the heart of the picture, which is in the bond between Carl Lee (the brilliant [Samuel L.] Jackson is quietly devastating) and Jake, a husband and father who knows he, too, would have shot anyone who raped his little girl."

Grisham enjoyed the film, remarking: "When all was said and done I was happy with it, happy we were able to find a kid like Matthew McConaughey. It wasn't a great movie, but it was a good one."

 

However, audiences seemed to love it.  It opened at number one and stayed there for two weeks, but the legs were somewhat legendary.  The 2nd to 5th weekend saw percentage drops of 10, 18, 24 and 24.  Audiences seemed to appreciate the film, the actors and the script.  It, like the book, asked some tough questions.  What would you do if (God forbid of course) you had a child who was raped and left for dead and the troglodytes who did this were not only going to get off with a light sentence but were bragging about their crimes?  The father in this film, shoots and kills them.  The trial, about a black man in the state of Mississippi, has all kinds of subplots to it.  But at the heart of it all was a controversial subject matter.  Audiences took to this and were willing to spend their money on a film that culminates in one of the best monologues of all time, (Can you see it?  Now picture she's white) imo.

 

 

John Grisham said in he epilogue for Sycamore Row (the follow up to ATTK that features all the same characters) that when he first wrote the book, it did nothing.  He couldn't give it away.  But then he kept writing and when others stories of his hit the theaters and did extremely well (The Pelican Brief, The Firm), people rediscovered his first novel and to this day, A Time To Kill has reportedly sold more than 10 million copies WW.  But it was a slow road to success for Grisham and the book.  But years later, people would ask him when he is going to revisit Jake Briggance and Harry Rex and Lucien.  About 15 years later, he wrote Sycamore Row and if you like Grisham and you like ATTK, you will simply love Sycamore Row.  It's the story of an old white man who hangs himself from a giant Sycamore Tree.  He writes a will that eliminates his other legal will.  He sends this will to Jake Briggance and in it he gives 90% of his 20 million dollar fortune to his black housekeeper.  He leaves nothing for his kids and the other 10% is spit equally between his brother and the church.  Of course with this kind of money involved, you can bet the kids hire lawyers to fight the will.  

 

It's a fascinating book about the law, about greed and about a secret that gets peeled back page after page after page.  If you like Grisham's writing, you'll love this one.

 

 

And finally coming in at number 13 is the film that single-handedly brought the horror genre back from the grave.  We'll get to this in a moment.;...but first some background on Scream.

 

scream is a 1996 slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. Released on December 20, 1996, Scream follows the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, California, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer known as Ghostface. The film combined black comedy and "whodunit" mystery with the violence of the slasher genre to satirize the clichés of the horror film genre popularized in films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. The film was considered unique at the time of its release for featuring characters who were aware of real world horror films and openly discussed the clichés that Scream attempted to subvert.

 

 

Based partly on the real life case of the Gainesville Ripper, Scream was inspired by Williamson's passion for horror films, especially Halloween (1978). The script, originally titled Scary Movie, was bought by Dimension Films and was retitled by the Weinstein Brothers just before filming was complete. The production faced censorship issues with the Motion Picture Association of America and obstacles from locals while filming on location. The film went on to financial and critical acclaim, earning $173 million worldwide, and became the highest-grossing slasher film in the US in unadjusted dollars. It received several awards and award nominations. Scream marked a change in the genre as it cast already-established and successful actors, which was considered to have helped it find a wider audience, including a significant female viewership.

 

 

 

The script for what was then known as Scary Movie went on sale on a Friday in June 1995, but received no bids.  By the following Monday, the script had become the subject of a significant bidding war among a host of established studios, including Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Morgan Creek Productions.  Producer Cathy Konrad read the script and felt it was exactly what the Weinstein brothers of the fledgling Dimension Films — then a part of Miramax — were looking for. Dimension had previously released several horror films and intended to focus on that genre. Konrad brought the script to Bob Weinstein's assistant, Richard Potter. Believing it had potential, he brought it to Weinstein's attention.  Studios began to drop out of the bidding as the price of the script increased, and the final two bidders were Oliver Stone, who was at the time working under Cinergi Pictures, and the Weinsteins of Dimension Films. Williamson agreed to a bid of $400,000 from Miramax, plus a contract for two sequels and a possible fourth unrelated film. Williamson said he chose Dimension because he believed they would produce Scary Movie immediately and without significantly censoring the violence in the script.

 

 

 

Bob Weinstein approached Craven early in the planning stages, because he felt Craven's previous work in the genre that combined horror and comedy would make him the perfect person to bring Williamson's script to screen. Craven was already busy developing a remake of The Haunting and was considering distancing himself from the horror genre. He was growing weary of what he felt was an inherent misogyny and violence in it. Weinstein approached other directors, including Robert Rodriguez, Danny Boyle, George A. Romero, and Sam Raimi.  Williamson said that they "didn't get it"; he was concerned that having read the script, many of the directors believed the film to be purely a comedy. Craven was approached again but continued to pass in spite of repeated requests. When production of The Haunting collapsed, Craven was freed from that commitment and found himself in need of a project.  Meanwhile, Drew Barrymore had signed on to the film at her own request. When he heard an established actress wanted to be involved, Craven reasoned that Scary Movie might be different from other films of the genre he had previously undertaken, and he contacted Weinstein to accept the job.

As the film neared completion, the Weinstein brothers changed the film's title from Scary Movie to Scream. They were inspired by the Michael Jackson song of the same name. Bob Weinstein considered Scary Movie to be an unsuitable title as, in addition to the horror and violence, the film contained elements of satire and comedy; Weinstein wished for that to be better conveyed by the title. The change was effected so late into production that congratulatory gifts bore the original name. Williamson and Craven immediately disliked the new title, and considered it "stupid".  Both later remarked that the change turned out to be positive, and that Weinstein had been wise to pick the new title. Following a screening of the film in front of a test audience and Miramax executives, Craven was offered a two-picture contract for sequels to Scream.  In short, the film tested through the roof.

 

 

 

 

The casting was an interesting story as well.  Drew Barrymore was initially sought after to play the lead.  But when she read the script, she asked to play Casey.  Being a fan of the movie Psycho, she felt that the audiences would be thrown for a loop if she, like Marian Crane did in Psycho, died early in the film.  This idea worked beautifully as Barrymore was given the AND billing in the early trailers for the film.  Her early demise set the tone for the movie.

 

In terms of the box office, Scream made more than 100 million domestic, but when first released, the studio thought they had a dud.  The film was released in December, five days before Christmas. The studio did this because during the holiday season, family friendly movies are usually released, and the studio wanted to give the horror audience something to see during a time when no horror movies would be out. It opened at #4 with $6.4 million, which led the studio to believe the film had flopped. However, the film's good word of mouth is what led to its success at the box office. With every week it went up or stayed at the same place in the box office. Scream's budget was 14 million and it took in 173 million WW.  

 

Scream was responsible for the recrudescence of horror.  This was 1996.  Friday the 13th was done and the supposed final chapter just three years earlier went out with a whimper with 15 million.  Nightmare on Elm Street went out with a quiet 18 million for Wes' New Nightmare.  The last Halloween made 15 million.  The slasher giants from the 70's and 80's were no longer fresh and audiences were staying away.  Studios could no longer throw tiny budgets at straight to video horror films and make a tidy profit.  In 1996 before Scream, the highest grossing pure horror movie was Stephen King's Thinner which took in 15 million.  The genre was dead and it needed something to kick start it.  

 

 

Scream was that boost.  The reason it did so well is because it reinvented everything you knew about horror movies.  The characters were not oblivious to other horror films, in fact, not only were they aware but the characters were fans of films like Halloween and Friday the 13th.  Randy, the movie nerd of the group even tells people that there are rules for not getting killed in a horror film.  His four rules are:

 

1. You will not survive if you have sex

2. You will not survive if you drink or do drugs

3. You will not survive if you say "I'll be right back"

4. Everyone is a suspect.

 

Two additional rules come from the killer:

5. You will not survive if you ask "Who's there?"

6. You will not survive if you go out to investigate a strange noise.

 

There were also brilliant yet subtle touches and lines in the film that only a true horror geek would get.  "What's that werewolf movie with ET's mom in it?"  And then you had the entire beginning that was a wink and a nudge to all the horror fans who grew up watching scary movies in their parent's basement.  The killer quizzes Casey about horror trivia and when he asks her who the killer was in Friday the 13th, we, the audience right away shout out JASON VOORHEES!! And then he shows us who is boss by telling us and Casey that we should know that in the original Friday the 13th, Mrs. Voorhees was the killer.  Kevin Williamson's script was fresh and it appealed to people like me, people who have seen one too many scary movies.  We felt vindicated in some ways.  Horror has always been that genre that was kind of looked down upon.  It's about big breasted girls who are running up the stairs when they should running out the front door.  It's about pretty nubile women ready and willing to show is their assets before getting sliced and diced.  It's a genre basically ignored by the academy.  And here comes Kevin Williamson's script that started a bidding war among the Hollywood elite....and it finally got the director it needed to give it some pre-release credibility.  Wes Craven understands the genre and his clever touches helped make Scream the iconic film it is known as today.

 

 

 

Scream was blessed with a terrific cast as well.  Barrymore was the headliner but you had passionate performances by everyone from Skeet Ulrich to Jamie Kennedy to Neve Campbell to Henry Winkler.  But the one performance that stands out is Matthew Lilliard as Stu, the best friend of Billy.  Together they hatch the plan to kill the students of Woodsboro high.  Stu seems like more of a follower than a leader and Mtthew Lilliard played him brilliantly.  Some of funniest moments in the film were actually ad-libbed by Lilliard.  If you have seen the film, you might remember the scene where Stu asks Sid if she really called the police.  When she says that she really did, Stu cries, "My parents are going to be so mad at me."  This was done on the spot and Craven loved it.  There's also a scene where Billy drops the phone and it hits Stu in the head....Lilliard really did get hurt by that action but instead of break character he stays in it and just says OW and then rubs his head and complains to Billy.  All made up on the spot.  Lilliard, like Benicio Del Toro in Usual Suspects, took a character that was kind of standard and made him into what you see on screen.  It's one of the endearing things about the movie.

 

 

After Scream was a giant hit, the horror genre took off again.  Less than a year later, I Know What you Did Last Summer took in 75 million.  Scream 2 cleared the 100 million mark again also.  Then in 1998, Jamie Lee Curtis returned to her roots and starred in Halloween H2O, and it more than tripled the gross of the last Halloween film.  And of course, you have 1999.  The uber success of The Blair Witch Project and The Sixth Sense might not have happened if Scream hadn't been the genre reviving movie it was.  The point is, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, and yes, the fucking Weinsteins all read the market and took a chance and it paid off in ways that perhaps none of the could have foreseen.  Scream is one of my favourite films of all time.  Although it is just as funny as it is scary, it's moe than just a horror film.  It's a film that validated all the horror loonies like me.  It told us that there were others out there who loved Jason and Leatherface.  It joked about things we loved and it threw us all kinds of winks that only fans of the genre would get.  Scream did more for horror than perhaps any other film did for its genre, except for maybe Star Wars.  Scream is a giant.

 

The horror industry is once again getting healthy again as new film makers are giving us fresh takes on the genre.  We have spent the last 18 years getting overkilled by the found footage genre.  Now you have films like Split, Lights Out and Get Out, just to name a few, that are redefining the genre again.  I feel like it's in good hands once again. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kalo]

Despite going a little too far over the top at parts, the live action 101 Dalmatians, is actually a decent remake, mostly thanks it's stellar cast and having a built plot that is unique and yes pretty dark for a Disney movie.

[Jonwo]

I think Glenn Close is brilliant as Cruella DeVil and 101 Dalmatians which predates Disney's trend to remake their backcatalogue manages to be a fun film. 

 

Mission Impossible shows how you can successfully adapt a TV series while making it's own thing, the franchise is more associated with Tom Cruise and it's amazing how long it lasted with Cruise at the helm. 

 

ID4 and Twister are fun blockbusters although ID4 holds up better. It's a shame the sequel wasn't good

[baumer]

The top ten is done....I will get to the three or four random films, including Scream, this afternoon.  

[Brainbug]

For nearly four years, The Rock was my favourite movie. My 13-16 year old self enjoyed the shit out of it, ive seen it at least 50 times in these years. It has since dropped a bit in my personal ranking, but its still in my Top 50 movies. I recognize its flaws, but i honestly dont really care. The trio Connery/Cage/Harris is mesmerizing. The Music and action are fantastic, one of my favourite scores from Hans Zimmer. No matter how many bad movies Michael Bay made, this one will always be important to me.

[baumer]

3 hours ago, Brainbug said:

For nearly four years, The Rock was my favourite movie. My 13-16 year old self enjoyed the shit out of it, ive seen it at least 50 times in these years. It has since dropped a bit in my personal ranking, but its still in my Top 50 movies. I recognize its flaws, but i honestly dont really care. The trio Connery/Cage/Harris is mesmerizing. The Music and action are fantastic, one of my favourite scores from Hans Zimmer. No matter how many bad movies Michael Bay made, this one will always be important to me.

 

It really is an action fans dream.

[John Marston]

Tomato law would not allow Id4 and Twister to be successful today 

[Kalo]

42 minutes ago, Brainbug said:

For nearly four years, The Rock was my favourite movie. My 13-16 year old self enjoyed the shit out of it, ive seen it at least 50 times in these years. It has since dropped a bit in my personal ranking, but its still in my Top 50 movies. I recognize its flaws, but i honestly dont really care. The trio Connery/Cage/Harris is mesmerizing. The Music and action are fantastic, one of my favourite scores from Hans Zimmer. No matter how many bad movies Michael Bay made, this one will always be important to me.

 

When I was little I hated being left out when my family decided to watch a movie, and I may have been a bit older when watched The Rock like 10 or so, but I was very sensitive at that age and watched at least a decent chunk of the movie and got terrified by the part there the guy start to have his skin melted off by the nitroglycerin, and I hated the movie becuase of that and I still haven't seen it since, I may try and watch it somewhere down the road though, probably wouldn't bother me much today. 

[baumer]

I think ID4 and Twister would have done well today.

[Barnack]

18 minutes ago, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

I think ID4 and Twister would have done well today.

Twister maybe say San Andreas good, #20 domestic / #15 World wide, but I doubt close to how big it was at the time (#2 domestic and #2 worldwide, top 100 all time adjusted)

 

Not idea for ID4, but still probably not close to what it did, that movie sold is first domestic TV run around 90million that alone paid it's entire production budget, the movie was the second biggest of all time unadjusted worldwide, just below Jurassic Park.....

 

It is not the tomato law that would have made it hard, it is the original IP that need to compete with the 350m+ budget spectacle that franchise movie can afford to spent because of the certain success.

[baumer]

Yeah but part of the reason that Independence Day did so well was because the really hadn't been anything like it before it. You can't just say that a movie from 1996 wouldn't do well today and not take into account all the factors.

[Barnack]

5 minutes ago, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

Yeah but part of the reason that Independence Day did so well was because the really hadn't been anything like it before it. You can't just say that a movie from 1996 wouldn't do well today and not take into account all the factors.

 

That is mostly the point that I'm not sure it would have done really well today (obviously if you have a different movie in mind that would be the looking like nothing else in 2017, then we are talking about a different movie), but today selling it on that white house scene (or any other VFX) would not be easy, it would need to be much more impressive than Gravity.

 

It would compete with the MCU/Star Wars/Valerian/Avatar type of output today, The Martian number would have been a great performance for it now (#8 domestic/#10 worldwide, around half or less the success it had back then).

 

And other movie that would have a really hard time today would be Mission Impossible 1 (the franchise now is so much more light/comedy/action/surrounded around giant set piece than that first entry) 

Edited August 1, 2017 by Barnack

[baumer]

Yeah but you're also kind of missing the point a little bit. The reason why it did so well is because nothing had been done like it before. So sure it would struggle today against the MCU and so on but so would a lot of films from years past. I mean movies do well in the era that they do a lot of times because that film has the heartbeat of an audience. I mean if Star Wars had never been released and came out for the first time in 2017 there's no way there would be the and shock that it gave audiences in 1977. But that is completely irrelevant as far as I'm concerned.

[Maxmoser3]

1996 is an interesting year at the box office and I'm not going into too much detail. As it was the year I was born.

 

Scream was definitely a big surprise at the box office. After having horror franchises being put to death in between 1991-1996, and ressurecting vampires and werewolves were a mixed bag as some were big hits and the rest flopped. It was also something that ressurected Drew Barrymore's career, and boosted the horror genre as until 1999 as The Blair Witch Project was the the top grossing R-rated horror flick(minus The Exorcist). And most horror films in 1996 minus Scream and somewhat The Craft, and From Dusk Till Dawn. The rest had all bombed.

 

Action films were  still relevant as Broken Arrow proved to be a big hit in February as it grossed over $70 million. Eraser made $101 million and over $200 million WW on a $100 million budget which wasn't bad for a solo action film for Schwarzenegger.

 

The Rock did extremely well with having Speed's release date, a known cast, a action packed story(an interesting one at that), and what a summer blockbuster should be! It grossed $132 million in the states, which was amazing for an R-rated action film! It also helped out Nicolas Cage briefly in the action department, and bringing in a then blockbuster newcomer Michael Bay. 

 

Comedies also proved to perform strong with The Birdcage performing well with a total close to $125 million making it Robin Williams biggest hit in three years, and director Mike Nichols top grossing film knocking out The Graduate. Eddie Murphy had a comeback after duds in 1994-1995 with The Nutty Professor as it grossed a very solid $128 million and performed well against Independence Day a week later. Although Sandler had a flop with Bulletproof later in the year, Happy Gilmore did decent for a comedy released in February. While it wasn't the hit as his other movies, Jim Carrey's The Cable Guy did $60 million which was fine for a dark comedy. 

 

Tom Cruise had a strong year with two films passing the $150 million threshold with Mission Impossible in the summer as it had one of the top summer debuts at the time right behind Batman Forever and grossed an outstanding $180 million stateside total. As for Jerry Macguire it grossed well for a romantic drama as it proved to be a solid choice for adults around Christmas and January of 1997, and grossed an amazing $153 million total. 

 

The First Wives Club was one of the few most sucessful female oriented films in the year, which grossed $106 million and proved to be a hit for both Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton as it held on fine in September and October.

 

Disaster films proved to be strong in 1996 as Independence Day exploded that summer which was at the time thanks to a great marketing campaign as it was the first film to be advertised on the Super Bowl on January 28th. Twister was another film that proved to be leggy at the beginning of the summer as it was yet another blockbuster for director Jan De Bont as it was his last big hit as a director, and grossed nearly $245 million. 

 

Miscellanous stuff include Space Jam doing well for families as it grossed close to $100 million, and did well for a Looney Tunes themed film and was the only sucessful film that a basketball star(until Lebron James in 2015) could do. Paramount/MTV saw success in December with the full-length film Beavis & Butt-Head: Do America as it was the top opening weekend for the month of December at that time and grossed a healthy north of $60 million haul.

 

Adult oriented films(other than Jerry Macguire) also performed decent such as A Time To Kill grossed a solid $108 million which was the personal best for a John Grisham film, and proved to be a big star vehicle for Sandra Bullock and Matthew Mccoungahey. In October, Sleepers did decent for a darker R-rated drama as it did above $50 million and was director Barry Levinson's few profitable films. 

 

Mel Gibson had his biggest hit since Lethal Weapon 3 with kidnap thriller Ransom as it performed relatively better than other kidnapping thrillers, and had a very memorable closing to a trailer with the "I Want My Son!" closing it off. The film is one of the R-rated thrillers that was the top grossing kidnapping thrillers ever right next to Taken, and held on well even with its darker premise in November. 

 

As for the losers, it's mostly just a genre list in 1996.

 

As horror films had success with Scream, and an ok profit with The Craft/From Dusk Till Dawn. Franchises(Hellraiser:Bloodline, and The Crow:City Of Angels) bombed for Miramax, and had to go straight to video years later. Horror comedies were duds as Bordello Of Blood, and The Frighteners were both toned down and put to death in the summer. Bad Moon bombed around November, and disappeared within a week. Hell even Stephen King couldn't even sneak past the stinkers as Thinner lost weight around Halloween and bombed. 

 

While Eraser, The Rock, and Broken Arrow were hits there were a lot of action packed duds. Jean Claude Van Damme couldn't escape the sinkhole as The Quest and Maxumum Risk both flopped stateside. Stallone joined the cursed first weekend of December crowd with the big bomb Daylight. Buddy action films were also put to death as Bulletproof, and The Glimmer Man both snuck past $20 million total each. Speaking of Seagal, Executive Decision (although he dies in it) joins the list as well which underperformed stateside but made some back overseas still wasn't the success that WB hoped to be. Bruce Willis came back to his old ways with Last Man Standing as it barely stood for a few weeks. 

 

Damn this bitch keeps showing up here now, but Sharon Stone still can't be a sucessful draw as Diabolique was a huge failure, and Last Dance(fitting title isn't it?) was her "Last Dance"

 

Although their tits are nice to look at it, Pamela Anderson's Barb Wire got caught in a trap and bombed, and Demi Moore had a flop with Striptease although it proved to be more sucessful overseas and stirred some controversy later on due  to a 4th grade teacher in Chicago showing this to students. 

[baumer]

I'll be finishing 1996 in about an hour and then on to 1997...which should be really fun.

[Chaz]

1996 was a pretty great year. Some of my favorites:

The First Wives Club

Beavis and Butt-head Do America

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Mars Attacks!

The Birdcage

Matilda

The People vs. Larry Flynt

The Craft

Happy Gilmore

Evita

Space Jam (pure nostalgia)

The Frighteners

The Rock

Jingle All The Way (pure nostalgia; I love a '90s economy movie)

The Mirror Has Two Faces

 

And, of course, Scream, ID4, Twister (horrible fucking movie, but I loved it at 10), Jerry Maguire, 101 Dalmatians, Fargo and Sling Blade.

Edited August 1, 2017 by Chaz

[Chaz]

For my money, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is below only Beauty and the Beast on the list of greatest animated films of the '90s. Take out the gargoyles and you have a perfect film.

[cannastop]

1 minute ago, Chaz said:

For my money, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is below only Beauty and the Beast on the list of greatest animated films of the '90s. Take out the gargoyles and you have a perfect film.

That's a big thing to take away, considering they have a musical number.

[Chaz]

2 minutes ago, cannastop said:

That's a big thing to take away, considering they have a musical number.

The worst song in the movie.