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

[baumer]

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I will accept up to three films to be covered per year, outside of the top ten.

 

The rules are first come first serve.

And you can only ask for two years in advance.

 

So if there are any requests for 1997 or 98, please let me know.

[Man of Steelbook]

5 minutes ago, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I will accept up to three films to be covered per year, outside of the top ten.

 

The rules are first come first serve.

And you can only ask for two years in advance.

 

So if there are any requests for 1997 or 98, please let me know.

For 1997 can you cover Batman & Robin?

[baumer]

Yes, that one should be fun.

[Man of Steelbook]

Just now, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

Yes, that one should be fun.

Ice to see you doing it! Thanks for not giving me the cold shoulder.  

[baumer]

Oh boy......lol

 

3 hours ago, Man of Steelbook said:

Ice to see you doing it! Thanks for not giving me the cold shoulder.  

[Maxmoser3]

1997 had lots of good stuff, you had Titanic, Men in Black, The Lost World:Jurassic Park, and so much other stuff. And in a box office perspective was amazing and interesting to follow and quality wise. 

Edited August 2, 2017 by Maxmoser3

[LonePirate]

@Stutterng baumer Denbrough

 

Just read your 1995 recap and I'm surprised you didn't mention Heat given its all star cast and, at least what seems to me, the influence the film had on Christopher Nolan. Several of his movies look like Michael Mann movies. Maybe it's just me who thinks that. 1995 was certainly a banner year for action/crime thrillers given Heat, Se7en and The Usual Suspects.

[Ms Lady Hawk]

I have not read the entire thread, so forgive me if There's Something About Mary or Shakespeare In Love have already been suggested for 1998. I love those two movies. 

[baumer]

3 hours ago, LonePirate said:

@Stutterng baumer Denbrough

 

Just read your 1995 recap and I'm surprised you didn't mention Heat given its all star cast and, at least what seems to me, the influence the film had on Christopher Nolan. Several of his movies look like Michael Mann movies. Maybe it's just me who thinks that. 1995 was certainly a banner year for action/crime thrillers given Heat, Se7en and The Usual Suspects.

 

I'd love to mention every film that I like or love.  But there's only so much I can dedicate to this thread....and keep in mind, this is first and foremost a box office thread...it's a celebration/recap of the biggest box office stories of each year.  HEAT was not a big earner.  

 

Each year takes about 2-3 hours to put together and research.  Sorry if some of your favourite films aren't on here.

[baumer]

3 hours ago, LonePirate said:

@Stutterng baumer Denbrough

 

Just read your 1995 recap and I'm surprised you didn't mention Heat given its all star cast and, at least what seems to me, the influence the film had on Christopher Nolan. Several of his movies look like Michael Mann movies. Maybe it's just me who thinks that. 1995 was certainly a banner year for action/crime thrillers given Heat, Se7en and The Usual Suspects.

 

Heat would be great for a different topic....a look back at the top ten most influential films of each year.  

[baumer]

3 hours ago, Diana Prince said:

I have not read the entire thread, so forgive me if There's Something About Mary or Shakespeare In Love have already been suggested for 1998. I love those two movies. 

 

SAM will be covered.....I'm not a big fan of SIL so I can't promise I'll break that one down.  

[narniadis]

Awesome job Baumer!! Makes me want to watch Scream again which is funny because horror isn't my general cup of tea. 

 

Looking forward to 1997 as well. Titanics run is one of the most fun things to track ever and I love reading Gurus recaps from the time because I was too young (10) to have internet access at the time but it was just Everywhere. 

[John Marston]

Hope you can give a mention to Nicolas Cage's strong year with Con Air and Face/Off

[baumer]

3 hours ago, John Marston said:

Hope you can give a mention to Nicolas Cage's strong year with Con Air and Face/Off

 

It's certainly worth mentioning.....I'll try to get to both of those films.

[baumer]

How interesting is it that the movie SCREAM has prompted some of the best conversation from the most users, so far?

[BOOYAH SUCKAS]

Could you do the Postman (1997) Baumer? 

Also its fucking insane that Independence Day came so close to breaking the OW record after opening on a Wenedsday. Its entirely unimaginable for an original movie to do that today. 

[baumer]

We are gong to start out 1997 with a tribute to the number one film of the year and the number two grossing film WW of all time.  We'll get to the rest of 1997 later tonight (time permitted) but Titanic deserves a piece, and a detailed one, all to itself.  It's a film that changed cinema, cemented a legacy, tied for the most Oscar wins and launched the career of one of the most successful actors in film history.  Titanic appealed to all different ages, races, backgrounds and men and women.  It's a film that brought my grandmother out to the movies for the first time since she had lived in Canada.  It was and is a film that gets inside of you and it doesn't let up.  It's a true story with real characters, but also tossed in are fictional ones blending into a fictional story about Jack and Rose.  It's a film, that for me personally, hits all the right notes, makes you feel the loss, the sorrow, the pain, the love and the tragedy.  James Cameron has made better films, but only because he is Jame Cameron.  

 

 

I have always been a James Cameron fan. He is really one of the only directors I can say that has never made a bad film. Even his Piranha 2 was humorous and a fine effort coming from such a young director with a small budget. He has made, from what I can recall, two masterpieces (Aliens and Terminator 2) a genre pioneer (Terminator) and one of the best action movies to come out in the 90's ( True Lies ) and an ambitious touching film ( The Abyss ). These were all before Titanic.  But he has outdone himself with Titanic. I don't think there has ever been a film that has taken me through such a wide array of emotions as this one. And that is all attributed to Cameron. He wrote, produced and directed this film. And it is one of the best films ever made.

 

We all know the story of Titanic. A great ship sets sail for the U.S. from the U.K. and along the way it sinks and many people lost their lives in the Atlantic somewhere near Newfoundland. So there is no need to retell those events documentary style. A Night To Remember is there for that purpose. So what Cameron's Titanic does is tells the tale of fictitious characters blended in with real ones amidst the real events of the sinking. And it not only makes the film entertaining, it shows the sheer horror of what happened that night and makes you more sympathetic to the characters because you spend three hours with them. This is a brilliant, brilliant film. To start with, the actors are perfect. Not just DiCaprio and Winslet, but everyone from Zane and Bates right down to Paxton (RIP) as the present day treasure hunter. But it is Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio that are the true stars here as it the two of them that have to carry the load and make us care about them. And we do. We can feel them falling in love. We can feel the helpless emotions that Jack feels when he is trying to tell Rose that he loves her the day of the sinking. It is their relationship that is a great strength of the film.

 

Next, what has to be mentioned is the score by James Horner. Very few times has a motion picture had a score that symbolized the sheer hopelessness and tragedy that is on screen. But here Horner has a perfect and somber piece of music that will bring tears to your eyes, especially when lives and love are lost. Also, the whole scope of the film is one of tragedy. It is a tragic love story, a tragic story of refugees trying to make a better life for themselves and have it all end abruptly with a giant piece of ice. It is a sad look at bureaucracy and wealth and how it can manipulate and control many things. But most importantly, this is a love story and an inspirational tearjerker. Rose and Jack fall fast and hard and it doesn't matter that they are from different worlds. Love sees no boundaries. If it is there, nothing can stop it. Not even death.

 

 

Cameron has manipulated us to perfection here and even if you find the romance to be embellished (which I don't) to watch this film and know that this happened, is a sad and disturbing reality. Few films have ever done this to me...made me cry apologetically.  It's not just the Jack and Rose story, which is powerful enough.  But when you see the ship sink and you see frozen toddlers in their mom's arms or the old couple on the bed as the water rushes in, it's enough to break any person down.  Few films have ever made me feel such a connection to the characters. Titanic does, and by the end of the film, you feel like you know the people of Titanic like they were your long lost relatives. 

 

But the road to success was not a clear path without any roadblocks or deterrents.  Let's take a look at some of the minutia of the film.  

 

 

Titanic is an epic romance-disaster film.  Cameron's inspiration for the film came from his fascination with shipwrecks; he felt a love story interspersed with the human loss would be essential to convey the emotional impact of the disaster. Production began in 1995, when Cameron shot footage of the actual Titanic wreck. The modern scenes on the research vessel were shot on board the Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, which Cameron had used as a base when filming the wreck. Scale models, computer-generated imagery, and a reconstruction of the Titanic built at Playas de Rosarito in Baja California were used to re-create the sinking. The film was partially funded by Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox. It was the most expensive film ever made at the time, with a production budget of $200 million.

Upon its release on December 19, 1997, Titanic achieved critical and commercial success. Nominated for 14 Academy Awards, it tied All About Eve (1950) for the most Oscar nominations, and won 11, including the awards for Best Picture and Best Director, tying Ben Hur (1959) for the most Oscars won by a single film. With an initial worldwide gross of over $1.84 billion, Titanic was the first film to reach the billion-dollar mark. It remained the highest-grossing film of all time until Cameron's Avatar surpassed it in 2010. A 3D version of Titanic, released on April 4, 2012 to commemorate the centennial of the sinking, earned it an additional $343.6 million worldwide, pushing the film's worldwide total to $2.18 billion. 

 

Before Cameron knocked it out of the park with Titanic, he was a successful film maker and a bit of a pioneer when it came to effects.  Terminator 2 created all kinds of new effects for the liquid medal sequences.  So Cameron had clout.  But he was not the GOD that he is now....that came after Titanic and Avatar both did massive business.  But when Cameron was making the film, Fox became nervous because the budget was escalating and the release date had to be pushed back from a prime summer release to the not so desirable Christmas slot.  Fox was hoping this would be their summer tentpole but special effects and editing took a lot more time and money than they had hoped so they had no choice to push it back six months.  Paramount was initially pushing for a late summer release, even for August 1st.  The problem with this is that Harrison Ford told them that if they released Titanic that close to Air Force One (it came out July 25th), he would sever ties with them.  Ford wanted AFO to have no chance of failure because he was coming off a financial disaster with The Devil's Own.  So the studio acquiesced and then pushed for a November release.  Fox baulked at this because they had two big films coming out around Thanksgiving.  Anastasia was their first foray into animation and Alien Resurrection was the Thanksgiving tentpole.  So Paramount was in a bind.  Finally the two studios reluctantly agreed to release it at Christmas but even that was met with hesitance because they didn't like going up against a Bond film.  But Titanic had to come out in 1997 some time, so the December 19th slot was all they had.  The delay increased the cost of the film, partly because of bank interest payments. Executives at Fox insisted that the delay would add at most $10 million to the movie's budget. Variety estimated that the postponement would add closer to $20 million to the film's cost. So there were a lot of nervous executives at both Fox and Paramount.  

 

 

James Cameron was odds with executives from both studios, but the one who stayed by his side the whole time, was Sherry Lansing.  She was unsure of the film but felt that what she read in the script was something special.  But the film just kept hemorraging money even in post.  What finally convinced Lansing that they had a hit was when James asked her to come out to his home to view "just one of two scenes."  

 

From Lansing's book:

 

"Jim said, 'Come out, and I'll show you a few scenes cut together, just a couple of scenes,' " Lansing recalled. "It was a Sunday, and I'd made plans to have dinner with my husband [director William Friedkin] later on. John Goldwyn and I drove out to Jim's home early in the afternoon, and we had a little lunch, and then Jim made the room dark and showed us the first scene, and I was speechless." Cameron asked if she would like to see some more. "Of course," she replied. "And he showed me another scene, completely different, and that was incredible. Then he said, 'Another scene?' And I said, 'Yes!' I lost all track of time."

After an hour — or what she believed was an hour — she said she should call Friedkin to tell him she'd be late for dinner. "I told Jim I was meeting Billy at six," she said. "And Jim said: 'What are you talking about? It's already 8 p.m.' "

That screening "was a big turning point for me," said Cameron, "because we were in a very bleak place emotionally, trying to finish the movie. Everyone was against us. And all of a sudden, we had a studio head saying that somehow, at some level, it had all been worth it."

Lansing only had one reservation: about the song "My Heart Will Go On." "I said, 'Jim, isn't this a little corny?" she recalled. "He said, 'Oh my God, Sherry! The song is fantastic.' "

Titanic premiered November 1, 1997, at the Tokyo International Film Festival and opened domestically December 19 on 2,674 screens.

Contrary to industry expectations, it came in No. 1 at the box office, earning $28.6 million its first weekend on its way to a worldwide total of $2.19 billion. That made it the most successful movie ever, a record broken only by Cameron's Avatar in 2009.

"The picture went 'clean' [into the black] on theatrical alone," said Bernstein, the business affairs executive. "I never saw that happen before."

 

 

 

When it was finally released, Fox and Paramount were happy with the intial numbers but were still resigned to take a loss.  Here is Guru's recap of it after the first weekend (note his projection of what it could make after a lengthy run.....and have a good laugh).

 

THIS WEEKEND In one of the most eagerly-awaited battles of the year, James Cameron's Titanic edged out the James Bond picture Tomorrow Never Dies for the number one spot with each attracting enormous crowds. Final studio figures have Paramount's Titanic at $28.6M for the weekend (a full million dollars above the initial estimate) while the MGM/UA Bond movie stands at $25.1M (about a million dollars less than the Sunday estimate). Last weekend's top film Scream 2 was slaughtered by the new competition as it was hacked by 58%, tumbling to $13.9M. Overall, the top ten movies posted the largest non-summer, non-holiday weekend gross of 1997.

Titanic's opening is now the second-biggest December opener ever and Tomorrow Never Dies is the third-largest. December's biggest opening weekend remains to be last weekend's $33M debut of Scream 2, which Miramax revised from $39.2M. The tremendous openings of these three films have put an end to the notion that December releases can't open huge since most of the biggest debuts have been in the high teens. The top five December openings before this year have been : Beavis and Butthead Do America ($20.1M), Star Trek VI ($18.2M), Michael ($17.4M), Jerry Maguire ($17.1M), and The Pelican Brief ($16.6M). The record books will need some adjusting once this month is over.

Titanic's performance was spectacular considering its length at 194 minutes. Paramount secured the film in 2,674 ports and sailed away with a per-theater average of $10,710 - the best in the top ten. Its opening average was also better than those of other three-hour-plus movies (which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar) like 1995's Braveheart ($6,300) and 1990's Dances With Wolves ($9,100). It was by far the largest opening of any movie near the three-hour mark and beat the debut performance of Cameron's last film True Lies, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, which grossed $25.9M in 2,368 theaters in July 1994. Paramount successfully beat the odds and scored a fantastic opening for a film that should have smooth sailing ahead.

Many elements contributed to Titanic's huge launch. There was no doubt that adding to the opening rush to see Titanic was its 8 Golden Globe nominations, best of any film this year, which were announced on the day before its release. Audiences were curious to see what James Cameron did to make the most expensive movie ever made. Hot young stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were big draws for teens and young adults and the romance story made it an event film for the date crowd. Titanic gave Paramount its biggest opening weekend of the year and could enable the studio to surge ahead of Warner Brothers for the third spot in the year's box office market share. Paramount's reported $65M investment for domestic distribution rights looks almost certain to pay off as the upcoming holiday weekend activity, strong word-of-mouth, and award consideration should all contribute to a prolonged domestic run that could see Titanic reach $150M. Fox, which foot the bill for the rest of the $200M production, will handle international distribution where the film is also likely to be a huge blockbuster.

 

So why did Titanic not just succeed, but obliterate the box office record book?  I'm sure we all have out theories, and here is mine.  

 

The story took precedent over the effects.  People loved Jack and Rose.  They identified with the star crossed lovers and they wanted to spend time with them.  I was 25 when Titanic came out and I saw it in theaters 7 times.  Three of those times were by myself.  I think I cried every time.  You spend three hours with these two beloved characters and then you watch one of them die.  It doesn't sound like something that has a lot of repeat value, but it did.  Cameron wrote two characters that we could all love.  And then there was the rest of the characters.  Kathy Bates as the unsinkable Molly Brown.  A rich woman who married into money so we could relate a little more to her.  She was kind of a bridge between Jack and Rose.  She had money so she could hang with the snooty rich folk but she didn't come from money so she could understand where Jack was coming from.  Billy Zane as the asshole, aristocratic, snooty, silver spooner was perfect in the role.  Then you had small bit performances.  Eric Braeden of The Young and The Restless played JJ Astor.  On the soap, he was the richest man in Genoa City, Victor Newman, so he was a perfect choice to play the richest man on the ship.  Bill Paxton was the modern day treasure hunter who segued the story from the present day to the past.  And of course Gloria Stuart in her Oscar nominated performance as Old Rose.  Then you had Jeannette Goldstein, Victor Garber and Frances Fisher chewing up scenery when they had the chance.

 

 

Adding even more to the enjoyment of it was the soundtrack by James Horner, who of course won an Oscar for it.  The sure way to have a huge-selling album in 1998 was to put Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" on it.  Buoyed by Canadian diva Dion's smash single, the Titanic soundtrack sold more than 9.2 million units in 1998, according to SoundScan, a company that tracks album sales. That made Titanic, which otherwise consists of classical music, the year's best-selling album. It doubled the sales figures of the 1997 champ, Spice, by British pop tarts the Spice Girls.

Dion sailed into second place on the 1998 sales list with her own album, Let's Talk About Love, which also featured "My Heart Will Go On". Dion's album moved 7.9 million copies.  A second album called Back to Titanic was made.  This had some original music composed by Horner as well as some music from the film.  It sold over 1 million copies.  

 

James Cameron was under enormous pressure to finish the film.  As news of the films production issues and escalating budget, the press excoriated him and almost seemed glad that he was looking a financial disaster.  I guess success breeds contempt.  In the middle of filming, Bill Mechanic came to the set and at 4AM after an 18 hour shooting day, proceeded to rip into Cameron and threatened him with dismissal if the film wasn't ready soon.  Cameron was so incensed, he stormed off the film set and told Mechanic that if he thought it was so easy, that, "maybe you should direct the fucking film."  After this blow up, Cameron became unbearable on set.  Kate Winslet admitted to being afraid of him. 

 

So when the film broke records and then was rewarded with 11 Oscars, is it really any wonder that Cameron got on stage and basically said fuck you to all of those of doubted him?  His, "I'm the kind of the world" comment rubbed a lot of people the wrong way but I don't think he cared.  He put his career and reputation on the line and believed in himself and in the end, all those who doubted him had to admit that they were wrong.  Cameron proved to everyone never to doubt him (and to think he did it a second time with Avatar, is simply mind-blowing).

 

 

When Titanic came out, it grossed 28.6 million.  The week after, it took in 35 million and after ten days it was at 88 million.  At this point, Fox and Paramount could chalk this up to the holidays.  But of course, the film just kept going.  The next two weeks it fell 6 and 13%.  It crossed 200 million on day 12, a record at the time.  And it wouldn't stop.  On day 58, it had it's highest grossing day, Valentine's Day, with 13 million.  This is a film that had word of mouth levels perhaps never seen before.  It spent 15 consecutive weeks at number one and it crossed 300 million in its 7th week. 400 was eclipsed after week ten, where it was still earning more than 20 million per weekend.  This is a film that opened to 28 million.  Week 11 then dropped 6% and week 13 it stayed flat while week 14 it plummeted by a massive 2.4%.  It just could not be stopped.  Week 15 it crossed 500 million On week 37, at the end of August, it crossed the 600 mark....a number unheard of in box office terms.  

 

I'll end this summation with Guru's beautiful recap of it after it crossed 600 million.

 

Friday, August 28, 1998 - 3:20PM EDT

Near, far, wherever you are, chances are you have seen the box office behemoth Titanic at least once. On Thursday, August 27th, in its 252nd day of release, Titanic crossed the unbelievable mark of $600 million in domestic ticket sales. It took a full 36 weeks for the James Cameron action-romance to reach the never-before-reached box office level and Paramount Pictures, the film's domestic distributor, could not be happier.

Hitting $600 million caps off a historic run at the box office which nobody could have imagined. After opening at number one with $28.6M in December, Titanic amassed its first $100 million in just 12 days. One by one it leapt over each hurdle reaching its last milestone, the $500 million mark, while still at the top of the charts on March 26, its 98th day of release. Fueled by strong reviews, a beloved story, amazing action sequences, romantic music, hot young stars, eleven Oscars, and four Golden Globe Awards, Titanic destroyed everything in its path by spending a record 15 consecutive weekends at number one. In addition, the ocean disaster film spent a total of 20 weekends in the top five and 26 (half a year) in the top ten.

Paramount was not the only winner with Titanic though. Twentieth Century Fox, the original studio bankrolling the picture, retained international distribution rights and demolished records all across the globe. According to the studio, Titanic's current overseas cumulative total stands at $1,196,128,829. Add in Paramount's $600,038,488 from the United States and Canada, and the motion picture's total worldwide gross comes to a staggering $1,796,167,317. Fox's overseas figures include $184.6M from Japan, $127M in Germany, $126M in France, $113.6M in the United Kingdom, $69.1M in Brazil, $66.8M in Italy, $43.7M in Spain, $42.3M in China, and $38.6M in Australia. The studio released Titanic in 57 overseas markets and broke the all-time box office record in each and every one of them. If that wasn't enough, Titanic almost doubled the previous record for worldwide gross which was $913 million by Jurassic Park.

But Titanic was not satisfied with just box office records. The Oscar-winning soundtrack, with original music from composer James Horner, was a giant too. It spent 16 straight weeks as the best-selling album in the country and has reportedly shipped 25 million units around the world. This week, the motion picture's second soundtrack album, Back to Titanic, hit stores and should do brisk business as well.

With next week's release of Titanic on home video, the film's heart will go on to set new records again. The world's love affair with James Cameron's Titanic seems endless as millions of fans just can't seem to get enough of Jack and Rose. Relive the excitement of the film's opening by reading the Weekend Box Office column for the weekend of December 19-21, 1997. They said Titanic would sink, but the $200M film went on to do the impossible and gross nine times that amount in theatrical receipts proving that anything is possible at the box office.

 

 

Titanic is not my number one film of all time (JAWS) and it's not even my favourite Cameron film (Aliens) but no film before or since has affected me the way Titanic did.  It's a film about tragic loss.  It's also a film that illustrates that life is precious and it is short and it is fleeting.  You can never take anything for granted.  Here today and you could be gone tomorrow.  Titanic had some of the most powerful people in the world aboard that ship, and many of their lives were lost, just like the third class passengers were.  They went down with the ship.  It's a film that made me want to be a better man and it touched me in ways I didn't even know a movie could.  Titanic did that to a lot of people.  

[baumer]

I will try to get to the rest of 1997 tonight.

 

Titanic obviously needed a piece unto itself.

[baumer]

@75livesinDerry @Kalo @Chaz 

[Fancyarcher]

2 minutes ago, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

I will try to get to the rest of 1997 tonight.

 

Titanic obviously needed a piece unto itself.

Indeed. Being the highest grossing movie of all time up until that point, was no small accomplishment. Titanic's also a film I've really grown to appreciate more and more over the years. It's great.