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

[baumer]

And on we go.

 

1998

 

The domestic box office and WW box office were now starting to see some separation.  And a new domestic comedic force was on the rise.  Let's just get right to  it.

 

Coming in at number one domestically and two WW was Saving Private Ryan.  

Saving Private Ryan is an epic war film set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II. Directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat, the film is notable for its graphic portrayal of war, and for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which includes a depiction of the Omaha Beach assault during the Normandy landings. It follows United States Army Rangers Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and a squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last-surviving brother of four servicemen.

The film received wide critical acclaim, winning several awards for film, cast, and crew, as well as earning significant returns at the box office. The film grossed 216/481. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards; Spielberg's direction won his second Academy Award for Best Director, with four more awards going to the film. Saving Private Ryan was released on home video in May 1999, earning another $44 million from sales. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

 

 

After Schindler's List, as mentioned previously, Spielberg lost all interest in making films.  He still produced some huge hits but it wasn't until Jurassic Park 2 that he made a comeback to directing.  That was four years later.  But that film was greeted with poor word of mouth and many fans were left feeling unsatisfied with the results.  But with Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg came back with a bang and showed everyone who he really is.  Saving Private Ryan has perhaps Spielberg's best directed stuff in his career.  And this is a man who has some truly legendary scenes and moments.  Take the opening of Jaws, the truck chase in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the mine chase in Temple of Doom with the trolley cars and the bike flying scene in E.T. just to name a few.  The opening scene of storming the beach might be his best and most remembered when he is gone.  

 

In casting the film Spielberg sought to create a cast that "looked" the part, stating in an interview, "You know, the people in World War II actually looked different than people look today", adding to this end that he cast partly based on wanting the cast "to match the faces I saw on the newsreels."

Before filming began, several of the film's stars, including Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Giovanni Ribisi, and Tom Hanks, endured ten days of "boot camp" training led by Marine veteran Dale Dye and Warriors, Inc., a California-based company that specializes in training actors for realistic military portrayals. Matt Damon was intentionally not brought into the camp, to make the rest of the group feel resentment towards the character. Spielberg had stated that his main intention in forcing the actors to go through the boot camp was not to learn the proper techniques but rather "because I wanted them to respect what it was like to be a soldier."  During the ten days of boot camp, the actors were fed cans of meat, slept outside in small tents, even during the rain, wore wet clothes and were awoken at all hours of the night so that they could experience what it was like to be a soldier during WWII.  

 

Of the 6 actors who were put through this, five of them voted to quit the boot camp half way through.  They hated it and felt it was over kill.  The only one who voted no was the veteran of the group, Tom Hanks.  He had been through something like this before when Robert Zemekis had him do it for Forrest Gump.  Hanks rather enjoyed the experience and later said,  "The other guys, I think, were expecting something like camping in the woods, and maybe learning things while sitting around the campfire."  Of course Hanks' vote carried the most weight and the boot camp was completed.  In casting Matt Damon, Spielberg originally cast him with the intent that he wanted someone not really famous or well known.  The casting was completed before Damon won the Oscar for the screenplay at the Oscars that year, so, oops.  

 

Saving Private Ryan is imo one of the greatest war movies ever made and as much as I love the film, it is also something I appreciate.  My grandfather was on the front lines in WWII and although he wasn't alive when this film came out, he would have sung its praises, I'm sure.

 

It lost best picture to Shakespeare In Love.  And that's all I have to say about that.

 

Coming in at number 2 for the year domestically but number one WW is the Michael Bay disaster film, Armageddon.  

Armageddon is a science fiction disaster film directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film follows a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers sent by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth. It features an ensemble cast including Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, William Fichtner, Michael Clarke Duncan, Keith David, and Steve Buscemi.

Armageddon opened in theaters only two and a half months after the similar asteroid impact-based film Deep Impact, which starred Robert Duvall and Morgan Freeman. Armageddon fared better at the box office, while astronomers described Deep Impact as being more scientifically accurate. Armageddon was an international box-office success despite generally negative reviews from critics, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide.  Domestically it took in 201 million while making 553 WW.  The budget was 140 million.

 

 

 

What must be mentioned about Armageddon, although I find this stuff to be more hooey than anything with real substance, is how much people like to hate on Bay and Armageddon.  Every critic killed this film with their words.  They went on to tell you how unrealistic it was, how frenetic the editing was and so on.  And yet, like most Bay films, all it does is entertain the audience.  This is a film that opened to a good but not great 36 million.  And then over the 12 subsequent weeks listed on mojo, it never fell below 34.7%, and that came in its second week.  Armageddon thrilled most who saw it and going forward, I'm when discussing Bay films, I'm not going to mention the critical response to his releases.  This is a piece about the box office, not critics.  

 

Nine writers worked on the script, five of whom are credited. In addition to Robert Roy Pool, Jonathan Hensleigh, Tony Gilroy, Shane Salerno and J.J. Abrams, the writers involved included Paul Attanasio, Ann Biderman, Scott Rosenberg and Robert Towne. Originally, it was Hensleigh’s script, based on Pool’s original, that had been greenlighted by Touchstone. Then-producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, hired the succession of scribes for rewrites and polishes. Robert Towne, for those of you a little too young to know anything about him, is the writer of Chinatown and is considered one of the greatest screenplay writers of our time.  He also wrote Mission Impossible and Tequila Sunrise, which is one of my favourite films, mostly because of the terrific screenplay.

 

Number three for the year is the Farrelly Brother's best movie and most financially rewarding film, There's Something About Mary.  

There's Something About Mary is a romantic comedy directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly. It stars Cameron Diaz as the title character with Ben Stiller, Lee Evans, Chris Elliott, and Matt Dillon all playing men who are in love with Mary and vying for her affections.

The film was placed 27th in the American Film Institute's 100 Years, 100 Laughs: America's Funniest Movies, a list of the 100 funniest movies of the 20th century. In 2000, readers of Total Film magazine voted it the fourth-greatest comedy film of all time. Diaz won a New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, an MTV Movie Award for Best Performance, an American Comedy Award for Best Actress, a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Actress. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. 

 

 

The film grossed a massive 176 million domestic and a shocking 370 million WW.  All on a budget of 23 million.  After the financial losses suffered from Kingpin (1996), the Farrely brothers thought their next film would probably be their last. So they decided to go all out and deliver the most hysterically black comedy they could dream up. When There's Something About Mary became a box-office smash hit, the Farrelly's careers were safe to continue.  So why did the film resonate with audiences?  Probably because it was so over the top funny in just about every slapstick scene.  The Farrelly's included bits in here that usually aren't part of mainstream comedy.  There's a scene where Ben Stiller decides he's going to masturbate before his date with Cameron Diaz.  This is done on the advice of his friend, played by Chris Elliott.  The reason?  So that he is more calm during the date and if it does get down to sex afterwards, he's already "cleaned the pipes."  When Mary (Diaz) shows up at his door, she asks him if he has hair gel hanging from his ear.  She grabs it (which we the audience know is his semen), and styles her hair with it.  The audience gasps and laughs nervously.  Then in the next scene, as they are sitting at dinner, Mary's hair is curled over in the parts that she used his semen as hair gel.  Now the audience is in hysterics.  There are several other scenes that go for broke like this one did and they all worked.  

 

Number four was A Bug's Life.  

A Bug's Life is a computer-animated adventure comedy produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by John Lasseter, the film involves a misfit ant named Flik that is looking for "tough warriors" to save his colony from greedy grasshoppers, only to recruit a group of bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe. The film stars the voices of Dave Foley, Kevin Spacey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Production began shortly after the release of Toy Story in 1995. The screenplay was penned by Stanton and comedy writers Donald McEnery and Bob Shaw. The ants in the film were redesigned to be more appealing, and Pixar's animation unit employed new technical innovations in computer animation. During production, the filmmakers became embroiled in a public feud with DreamWorks Animation due to the production of their similar film Antz, which was released the same year. Randy Newman composed the music for the film.

 

 

The film was released on November 25, 1998, and was a box office success, surpassing competition and grossing $363 million WW.  It took in 162 million domestic on a budget of 120 million, which was significantly higher than Toy Story.   It received positive reviews from film critics, who commended the storyline, witty dialogue and animation, while others unfavorably compared it to Antz. It was Roddy McDowall's final role before his death.

 

During the summer of 1994, Pixar's story department began turning their thoughts to their next film. The storyline of A Bug's Life originated in a lunchtime conversation between John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft, the studio's head story team. Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo (FTSBF) were also conceived at this lunch. Lasseter and his story team had already been drawn to the idea of insects as characters. Insects, like toys, were within the reach of computer animation at the time due to their relatively simple surfaces. Stanton and Ranft wondered whether they could find a starting point in Aesop's fable The Ant and the Grasshopper. Walt Disney had produced his own version with a cheerier ending decades earlier in the 1934 short The Grasshopper and the Ants. In addition, Walt Disney Feature Animation (later Walt Disney Animation Studios) had considered producing a film in the late 1980s entitled Army Ants, that centered around a pacifist ant living in a militaristic colony, but it never fully materialized.

As Stanton and Ranft discussed the adaptation, they rattled off scenarios and storylines springing from their premise. Lasseter liked the idea and offered suggestions. The concept simmered until early 1995 when the story team began work on the second film in earnest. At an early test screening for Toy Story in San Rafael in June 1995, they pitched the film to Disney CEO Michael Eisner. Eisner thought the idea was fine and they submitted a treatment to Disney in early July under the title Bugs. Disney approved the treatment and gave notice on July 7, 1995, that it was exercising the option of a second film under the original 1991 agreement between Disney and Pixar. Lasseter assigned Stanton the job of co-director; the two men worked well together and had similar sensibilities. Lasseter had found that the workday of a sole-director on a computer-animated feature was dangerous while working on Toy Story. In addition, Lasseter felt it would relieve stress and the role would groom Stanton for a lead directing position of his own.

 

A Bug's Life had exceptional word of mouth and after the second weekend (in wide release) drop of 48%, it still managed a multiplier of 4.9.

 

Number five for the year was The Waterboy.  The Waterboy is a sports comedy directed by Frank Coraci, starring Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Fairuza Balk, Henry Winkler, Jerry Reed (his last film role before his death in 2008).

Lynn Swann, Lawrence Taylor, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Cowher, Paul "The Big Show" Wight and Rob Schneider have cameo appearances. The movie was extremely profitable, earning $161.5 million in North America. This was Sandler's second film to eclipse $120 million worldwide in 1998 along with The Wedding Singer.

Adam Sandler's character, Bobby Boucher, bears a strong resemblance to his "The Excited Southerner" comedic skits from his album What the Hell Happened to Me? The portrayal is one of a stereotypical Cajun from the bayous of South Louisiana, not the typical stereotype of a Southerner. He also shares similarities in speech and mannerism to Canteen Boy, a recurring character, also portrayed by Sandler, on Saturday Night Live. Like Bobby, Canteen Boy was a soft-spoken manchild who preferred "purified water, right out of the old canteen," which he always carried with him.

 

Sandler had made a splash with two other comedies before this one.  Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore both earned modest sums but with Happy Gilmore, Sandler began to develop a following.  And when The Waterboy blew up and shocked everyone, it was the start of a career that would see him be one of the worst reviewed stars for the next twenty or so years, and yet his comedies would almost always clear 100 million.  Here's a film that took in 185 million WW on a small budget of 23 million.  Audiences obviously related to Sandler's brand of humour where most critics hated it.  Their loss.  

 

 

Doctor Dolittle comes in at number 6.  

Dr. Dolittle is a fantasy comedy directed by Betty Thomas, written by Larry Levin and Nat Mauldin, and starring Eddie Murphy in the titular role. The film was inspired by the series of children's stories of the same name by Hugh Lofting, but used no material from any of the novels; the main connection is the name and a doctor who can speak to animals, although the pushmi-pullyu, a much-loved feature of the books, notably makes a very brief appearance in a couple of scenes.

The first novel had originally been filmed in 1967 as a musical under the same title, a closer (albeit still very loose) adaptation of the book. The earlier film was a box office bomb, but still remains a cult classic and a two-time Academy Award-winner. Although the 1998 film was rated PG-13 by the MPAA, it was marketed as a family film.

The 1998 film was a box office success, despite mixed reviews from critics. The film's success generated four sequels; Dr. Dolittle 2, Dr. Dolittle 3, Tail to the Chief, and Million Dollar Mutts, the latter three being direct-to-video.

 

Doctor Dolittle was modestly budgeted at 70 million and took in 144/294 million.  This was a bit of a transitional period for Murphy as he was not starting to get into more family friendly films.  Once known as the fuck you man, or the king of comedy at the box office, his star had begun to fade and he had to start to reinvent himself.  It was also around this time that Murphy's kids were getting old enough to see movies and so his shift was necessitated by a desire for him to make movies that they could see.

 

 

A neat little tidbit is that both Both Albert Brooks and Ellen Degeneres have voice-overs in the movie (Albert plays the tiger and Ellen plays the dog at the beginning of the movie). They would later star together in the Pixar films Finding Nemo and Finding Dory, doing the voices of Marlin and Dory.

 

Rush Hour comes in at number 7. Rush Hour is a buddy action comedy directed by Brett Ratner and starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker as mismatched cops who must rescue the Chinese consul's kidnapped daughter. Rush Hour had a modest budget of 33 million and audiences responded to it on a world wide scale as it took in 141 million domestic and 244 WW.  The strange thing about the Rush Hour series is that they always did well domestically but for some reason didn't find a huge audience overseas.  Even as the budgets increased in each sequel, none of them really managed to connect with an international audience.  Perhaps if they were released in China, the international grosses would have been higher.  

 

Brett Ratner can take a lot of credit for the success of the film as he trusted his gut instincts.  According to Ratner, this film was the first film to be released in the U.S. featuring Jackie Chan in an English-speaking role without any kind of dubbing. Before this film Chan always had his voice dubbed over in his English-speaking roles because of his uncertainty in speaking the language. For this film, however, Ratner convinced him to forgo the dubbing as it would lend to the authenticity of his character.  He was also a big fan of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong movies. He felt that American audiences would not be familiar with the jokes in Jackie's other movies, and deliberately re-used some of his gags. For example, the scene where Inspector Lee accidentally grabs Johnson's breasts is a reference to Jackie Chan's film Mr. Nice Guy (1997).

 

 

This film benefited greatly from Chris Tucker's improv skills. He improvised much of his dialogue, as he normally does in his films. According to Ratner, during the scene at Grauman's where Detective Carter bribes Stucky for information, there was so much improvisation between Chris Tucker and John Hawkes that they almost did not think they could edit it together as a coherent conversation. There are still continuity errors in the dialogue for this reason.  One of the original casting choices, way before the film was even written, was Chris Farley and Martin Lawrence.  That was short lived as the producers decided that they wanted a clash of cultures with one black cast member and one Asian.  Once this idea became accepted, a who's who of black comedians were either considered and or offered the role.  Martin Lawrence was the original choice for Carter. Eddie Murphy was offered the role of Carter, but he turned it down to make Holy Man (1998) instead. David Chapelle, Will Smith, and Tupac Shakur were all considered for the role of Carter.  

 

Number eight for the year was the other asteroid movie, Deep Impact.  

Deep Impact is a science fiction disaster movie directed by Mimi Leder, written by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin, and starring Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximilian Schell, and Morgan Freeman. Steven Spielberg served as an executive producer of this film. The film depicts the attempts to prepare for and destroy a 7-mile (11 km) wide comet set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction.

Notably, Deep Impact was released in the same summer as a similarly themed film, Armageddon, which fared better at the box office, while astronomers described Deep Impact as being more scientifically accurate.  Both films were similarly received by critics, with Armageddon scoring 39% and Deep Impact scoring 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Nonetheless, Deep Impact grossed over $349 million worldwide on an $80 million production budget. It was the final film by cinematographer Dietrich Lohmann.

 

Deep Impact took in 140 million domestic and this was a large haul but not quite what Dreamworks and Paramount were hoping for.  It did well, but as a summer film, it was considered a slight letdown.  It opened very well with 40 million but only went on to finish with a 3.5X, which at the time, was pretty sparse.  

 

 

An interesting bit about the casting of Morgan Freeman as the president:  In a 2016 interview with the New York Times, Lori McCreary (president of the PGA and Morgan Freeman's producing partner) recounted that when Mimi Leder wanted to cast Freeman as the U.S. President, the studio objected on the basis that it wasn't realistic to cast a black person as President. McCreary recalled that one studio executive said, "we're not making a science-fiction movie; you can't have Morgan Freeman play the President." Aside from the obvious racism present in the notion that a black President is inherently unrealistic, the executive was also mistaken about Deep Impact not being a science-fiction movie. Basically, the "executive" was a moron.  Also, Morgan Freeman wanted his character (the President) to be wearing an earring. Director Mimi Leder turned him down. Later we see the President addressing the nation from the oval office. His sleeves are rolled up and one of Freeman's tattoos is showing. The director liked this. She felt it gave the President an everyman look.

 

 

The movie came into being when producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown proposed a remake of When Worlds Collide (1951) to Steven Spielberg, whom they had worked with on Jaws (1975). However, Spielberg had just optioned the 1993 novel "The Hammer of God" by Arthur C. Clarke, about an asteroid on a collision course for Earth and humanity's attempts to stop it. They then decided to merge the two projects together and came up with Deep Impact. Although the premise remained the same, the final screenplay for Deep Impact was different enough from Clarke's novel that he received no onscreen credit.

 

Coming in at number nine for the year domestically but number 3 WW was the film that most thought would win the year.  

Godzilla is a monster film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. It is the 23rd film in the Godzilla franchise and the first Godzilla film to be completely produced by a Hollywood studio.  It stars Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno, Maria Pitillo, Hank Azaria, Kevin Dunn, Arabella Field, Michael Lerner, and Harry Shearer.

The film was a co-production between Centropolis Entertainment, Fried Films, Independent Pictures, and TriStar Pictures, with TriStar distributing theatrically, and Sony Pictures Entertainment for home media. It also marks the only time that producer Devlin and director Emmerich worked on an intellectual property they did not own.

The film was released on May 20, 1998, grossing $136 million domestically and $379 million worldwide. Despite turning in a profit, it was considered "Average Performer" at the box office. The film swept the Golden Raspberry Awards in 1999, with two "wins" for Worst Remake or Sequel and Worst Supporting Actress and was nominated for Worst Picture, Worst Director, and Worst Screenplay. Planned sequels were abandoned and an animated series was produced instead.

 

 

So how did the producers of Independence Day screw up the film?  Well.....

Prior to the release of Independence Day, director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin signed on to do Godzilla under the condition they would be able to handle the film their way, Devlin stated, "I told Sony that I would do the film but on my own terms, with Godzilla as a fast-moving animal out of nature, rather than some strange kind of creature." Emmerich and Devlin were the first filmmakers approached by then TriStar executive Chris Lee to do Godzilla but initially turned the offer down, Devlin stated, "Both of us thought it was a dopey idea the first time we talked. When Chris came back to us, we still thought it was a dopey idea."

Despite praising Elliott and Rossio's script, Emmerich discarded it, stating, "It had some really cool things in it, but it is something I never would have done. The last half was like watching two creatures go at it. I simply don’t like that." Emmerich instead decided to develop new ideas from scratch, stating, "I didn’t want to make the original Godzilla, I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to make my own. We took part of [the original movie’s] basic storyline, in that the creature becomes created by radiation and it becomes a big challenge. But that’s all we took. Then we asked ourselves what we would do today with a monster movie and a story like that. We forgot everything about the original Godzilla right there."

 

I'm far from a Godzilla historian but it seems like Emmerich was adamant about taking everything people know and love about Godzilla create his own version of it.  This is a lesson and a good one.  Like when Coke made NEW COKE.  If it aint broke, don't try to fix it.  Godzilla has been around forever and to try and give people something different would be like giving Spider-man a super suit created by Stark industries.....oh wait......

 

The point is the Centropolis boys tried to created something completely different and they failed.  

 

A totally side personal note.  In 1998, just as the movie was coming out, Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, according to my best friend, read a book treatment I wrote called Day For Night (end of the world kind of stuff with a different breed of aliens taking over the world and a small group of international people who ban together in the Bahamas to try to survive).  How is this possible you ask?  Good question.  My friend (I've now known him for 40 years) was married at the time to the granddaughter of one of the five richest men in Canada.  He was good friends and had done business with Centrolpolis on a few occasions.  I had written the book and my friend helped me with some of the ideas.  We thought it would be good enough to get to Hollywood if it was in the right hands.  My friend gave it to his wife, who had a strong relationship with her grand dad, who then took it with him to New York.  He (according to me friend of course) gave it to Roland Emmerich who then proceeded to read it on a flight back to LA.  When he saw the grand dad again, he gave it back and said, according to my buddy, "Thanks but the story is interesting but not something we are interested in doing right now."  

 

Do I believe my friend?  Yes, I do. Am I foolish to believe him?  Maybe, but it's cool to think that the ID4 boys read my treatment, even though they had no interest in it.  

 

Coming in at number 10 was the Robin Williams dramedy, Patch Adams.  Patch Adams is a semi-biographical comedy-drama film starring Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Bob Gunton. Directed by Tom Shadyac, it is based on the life story of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams and the book, Gesundheit: Good Health is a Laughing Matter, by Adams and Maureen Mylander. Mojo has the budget listed at 90 million.  It took in 130 million domestic and 200 WW.  I'm unsure as to why it would cost this much to make the film.  It did well of course, but when the budget is 90 million, well is not good enough.  

 

The film was well received and did fine enough for a comedy.  I just don't know where the 90 million budget came from.  

 

 

 

During filming, Robin Williams and the rest of the cast and crew worked closely with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to fulfill the fantasies of several children who were at the time undergoing cancer treatment. The children appeared with Williams in scenes at the pediatric ward.

 

Coming in at number 11 for the year was the final film in the Lethal Weapon series.  Lethal Weapon four is once again directed by Dick Donner and the whole gang returns in addition to Chris Rock.  

Writer Jeffrey Boam took a shot at the the first draft, which had Riggs and Murtaugh dealing with racist white trash right wing neo-nazi survivalist militia group committing a terrorist attack in L.A. Boam said how the story of the script dealt with real life neo-nazi activity in US and how it was written to be more serious sequel focusing on the story and less on episodic comedy parts like the third film did. He also said how his script was lot more exciting and how the plot of the script that was eventually used for the filming which dealt with Chinese money counterfeiters and immigrant smugglers was very low stakes type of plot and not suspenseful enough for a Lethal Weapon film.

 

After Boam's draft was rejected for unknown reasons, although producers and studios decision to keep the focus of the next sequel on comedy was mentioned to be the possible reason for it, several other ideas and drafts were suggested for the film. Producer Joel Silver eventually hired several writers, including TV writer Channing Gibson who had never worked on a theatrical movie and who received credit for the story, to write a draft which included Chinese immigrants but it turned out to be a problem once the script had to be written and re-written again and again. Even though four writers are credited for the script (Channing Gibson, Jonathan Lemkin, Alfred Gough and Miler Millar), a lot more people were involved in re-writes during production. By the time filming began not even half of the script was finished and the ending was constantly being re-written until it was time to actually film it. The production problems and delays caused due to the issues with constant re-writes left only one month for the movie to be finished for theatrical release. In the very first script for the film Leo Getz and detective Lee Butters were not included, and once Joe Pesci and Chris Rock were brought in at the last minute even more re-writes were required. Butters was first written to be a gay character but cast and crew felt that with the way he was written it didn't work so he was changed to be Rianne's husband.  Despite Butters (Chris Rock) and Rianne (Traci Wolfe) being married, with a baby on the way, they never say a word to each other out loud. That's because their characters weren't originally written as a secret couple, but because of the many re-writes of the script, Butters was turned from a gay detective into Rianne's husband.

 

 

 

It was reported that Mel Gibson was paid 25 million for the fourth film and Glover 10 million.  Neither were keen on doing a fourth but apparently the studio just kept throwing money at them.  So they both reluctantly agreed to the film.  

 

This was also the first American produced film that Jet Li appeared in and it was the first time he had played a villain.  Richard Donner asked Jet Li to slow down during action sequences, because he was moving faster than the camera shutter speed, and it wasn't registering on film.

 

LW4 cost 140 to make and took in 130 and 285 WW.

 

Coming in at number 18 for the year was the best picture winner (it still makes me gag), Shakespeare In Love.  

Shakespeare in Love is a romantic period comedy-drama directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard. The film depicts an imaginary love affair involving Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) and playwright William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes) while he was writing Romeo and Juliet. Several characters are based on historical figures, and many of the characters, lines, and plot devices allude to Shakespeare's plays.

Shakespeare in Love won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Gwyneth Paltrow), and Best Supporting Actress (Judi Dench).  None of them were deserved, btw. In my opinion of course.  

 

 

As much as I have praised the Weinsteins for their films in the past, it all ends here.  This is the beginning of the Weinstein bribe the academy era.  There's no other way to explain films like SIL and Chicago and THE ARTIST (which is a worse win than SIL) winning best picture and a film like the Reader getting nominated.  Dame Judi Dench even won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Queen Elizabeth, although she is on-screen for only about six minutes in four scenes. This is the second-shortest performance to win a Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar. The shortest ever performance was by Beatrice Straight in Network (1976), as she appeared in only five minutes of the film.  As you can tell I'm not a big fan of the movie.

 

Having said all that, it was a huge success financially as it was made for 25 million and took in 100 domestic and 289 WW.  

 

Finally coming in at number 80 is the film that 100% changed my life, for good and for bad.  I'll get to that in a minute.  Rounders is a poker drama about the underground world of high-stakes poker, directed by John Dahl, and starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The film follows two friends who need to quickly earn enough cash playing poker to pay off a large debt. The term "rounder" refers to a person traveling around from city to city seeking high-stakes cash games.

Rounders opened to mixed reviews and earned only a modest box office. With the growing popularity of Texas hold 'em and other poker games, the film became a cult hit. On the special edition DVD, the commentators included world series legends Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker, and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson.

 

 

Rounders has a cast to die for, imo.  While not a huge one, in addition to the two stars, you have John Turturro as a mentor of sorts to Mike McDermott (Damn), Martin Landau as his college professor, Gretchen Mol as his girlfriend (an interesting note to this is that Damon and Mol must have had a good rapport with her on set because he would cast her in Manchester by the Sea almost 20 years later) and John Malkovich as Teddy KGB, the most notorious underground poker player in the city of New York.  Malkovich chewed up every fucking scene he was in and if you have not seen Rounders, you should just for his performance.  He's comical, scary and crazy all in one.  Although he plays the "villain", this is what Malkovich had to say about him, (I'm paraphrasing as I can;t find the direct quote)"I don't think of him as a villain.  He doesn't hurt Mike, gives him a chance to win his money back and then at the end, he pays him and makes sure that he leaves unharmed."

 

Malkovich has had more substantial roles, but once you see him in Rounders, you will identify him with KGB.  Like Del Toro in The Usual Suspects, Malkovich basically created a character.  He came up with his voice, his mannerisms and his botched pronunciation of the English language.  I'll let Matt Damon tell it best.  Please, please watch this, it's balls on hilarious and accurate.

 

 

 

As for how it changed my life, I'm going to give you the very short version because the long version is just that too long and not sure if you really want that detailed of a glimpse into my personal life......but before Rounders I knew nothing about poker....then I saw the film, and fell in love with the game.  I ended up getting divorced partially because of my love of poker and the fact that I lost a lot of money and hid it from my wife.  But because of the divorce, I am where I am today and in a career I love and single, which I also love.  Rounders directly impacted my marriage....and as the saying goes, sometimes one door has to close before the right one opens.  

 

Rounders only took in 25 million domestic but it was a huge earner on DVD and developed a massive cult following.  

 

This was 1998!

[Ms Lady Hawk]

" So why did the film resonate with audiences?  Probably because it was so over the top funny in just about every slapstick scene.  The Farrelly's included bits in here that usually aren't part of mainstream comedy.  There's a scene where Ben Stiller decides he's going to masturbate before his date with Cameron Diaz.  This is done on the advice of his friend, played by Chris Elliott.  The reason?  So that he is more calm during the date and if it does get down to sex afterwards, he's already "cleaned the pipes."  

 

Thanks again for the amazing write up. What a classic movie! SAM has so many funny scenes. Brett Favrrrree. LOL

 

Although, there was some shade thrown at SIL, I appreciate the write up. I fell in love with Joseph Fiennes. He was also excellent in Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett. 

 

Awesome! 

 

 

Edited August 8, 2017 by Diana Prince

[baumer]

3 hours ago, Diana Prince said:

" So why did the film resonate with audiences?  Probably because it was so over the top funny in just about every slapstick scene.  The Farrelly's included bits in here that usually aren't part of mainstream comedy.  There's a scene where Ben Stiller decides he's going to masturbate before his date with Cameron Diaz.  This is done on the advice of his friend, played by Chris Elliott.  The reason?  So that he is more calm during the date and if it does get down to sex afterwards, he's already "cleaned the pipes."  

 

Thanks again for the amazing write up. What a classic movie! SAM has so many funny scenes. Brett Favrrrree. LOL

 

Although, there was some shade thrown at SIL, I appreciate the write up. I fell in love with Joseph Fiennes. He was also excellent in Elizabeth starring Cate Blanchett. 

 

Awesome! 

 

 

 

Sorry but it's just a film that I don't get the appeal of.  I apologize if I wrote too much static about SIL.

[baumer]

@Kalo

@narniadis

@Squadron Leader Tele

 

[baumer]

@75livesinDerry

 

[Ms Lady Hawk]

4 minutes ago, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

 

Sorry but it's just a film that I don't get the appeal of.  I apologize if I wrote too much static about SIL.

I understand. People think I am crazy for never quite seeing the special quality of Shawshank Redemption and Scarface. We are all entitled to our opinions. That is one of the many reasons why movie watching is so fun. I just appreciate the time and effort you've taken to bring all these movies back to our consciousness. Saving Private Ryan is another classic. 1998 was a very good year for movies. The Water Boy, Armageddon, etc. - all very good/great.

[Brainbug]

@Stutterng baumer Denbrough fantastic write up as always. You pretty much nailed why the 1998 Zilla movie failed so miserably (i refuse to call it Godzilla. Its not Godzilla. Its like calling Batman Captain Boomerang.). I might add that the Japanese studio behind Godzilla, Toho, was so mad about this disaster of a movie that they not only made the Millenium Godzilla series right after this shit came out, they bought the rights from TriStar to this particular dumb creature and killed him off in the 2004 movie Final Wars:

 

 

I watch that video regulary to get satisfaction.

 

Its also one reason why i love the 2014 Godzilla so much. Say what you want about the plot, characters or cutaways, it was the first real Godzilla made by Hollywood. I know some people dont like it but for us Godzilla fans it is like Batman Begins: After Batman and Robin, Batman was in the shit. That he would made such a glorious comeback was never expected.

 

[baumer]

Welcome @EpHernaez...you're a new user....thanks for making this one of the first threads you view.

[The Wild Eric]

Also of note animation-wise, 1998 was the first year where non-Disney animated films became blockbusters, with both The Rugrats Movie and The Prince of Egypt grossing over $100M in the domestic box office. The success of both signaled animated movies could be successful without having the name of the most popular animation brand and helped usher in a new wave of animated movies. While Rugrats really only spawned a brief trend of animated features based on popular TV cartoons, like The Powerpuff Girls and Spongebob, Prince of Egypt helped put Dreamworks Animation on the map, a studio that later created an absolutely incredible hit streak of movies and in a way created every other non-Disney animation studio that's still running today.

 

Without these movies, animation probably wouldn't be such the big moneymaker it is today, making Rugrats and Egypt low-key some of the most important works in animation history.

[baumer]

Great post Eric!

 

Keep in mind, I'm only covering the top ten films and then two or three others.

 

There's a million and one stories that can be covered.  

 

Thanks for mentioning the animated piece.  Really interesting stuff.

[EpHernaez]

12 minutes ago, Stutterng baumer Denbrough said:

Welcome @EpHernaez...you're a new user....thanks for making this one of the first threads you view.

Thanks! I hope to learn more about B.O. in this forum.

[Jonwo]

Patch Adams cost $90m! This sort of film should cost half that, reminds of How Did You Know which cost $110m for a comedy!

 

There's Something About Mary benefitted from word of mouth because of that one scene, Rush Hour I really like because it's a fun action comedy and Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker really work well together.

[baumer]

I'll try to get to 1999 tonight.  

 

Of course on the way is the first prequel

the new face of horror X2

do i make you horny?

and the film that I chose as the most important film ever made.  

 

[Ethan Hunt]

The year of my birth up next

[baumer]

3 hours ago, EpHernaez said:

Thanks! I hope to learn more about B.O. in this forum.

 

I hope you enjoy this thread.  I've learned a lot from it too.

[AndyChrono]

Armageddon is one of my guilty pleasure movies and personally I feel that it's the musical score that really lifts the film up. Also, despite the wild editing, there are undoubtedly some incredibly epic scenes and good humor (Steve Buscemi). Oh yes, and it also has one of those Presidential Speeches about the world coming together to defeat aliens asteroids.

 

It all comes together here.

 

 

[Kalo]

The Prince of Egypt was possibly the most influential film of my mid-childhood, it was the first (and only film until 2001) I saw in theaters after moving to North Carolina when I was 8. I was obsessed with the film along with my nieces (who were close to my age) and we would watch it over and over again and well this might sound bad but we would pretend to be Egyptian slaves, and make muds bricks and gather wild grass wheat outside. I still think it is one of the greatest and most underated animated films I've ever seen (although it was an acclaimed film when it was released), and the best non-Disney animated musical ever. as a Christian I'm really sad Dreamworks hasn't done more biblical epics (well after Joseph King of Dreams, but that was direct to video and not nearly as good as PoE), as they have so much potential to make great films and as CoolEric258, it (along with the rugrats movie) were the first Non-Disney animations to gross over $100m at the domestic BO. it also won the Oscar for best original Song "When You Believe" It is also notable for it's mixing of CGI-Sequences of with hand drawn animation to create so truly remarkable sequences, using Big Stars to voice the characters, which included Val Kilmer, Sandra Bullock, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin, Martin Short Patrick Stewart and Helen Mirren. it was also rated PG at a time when it was almost unheard of for an animated film to receive  a PG rating.

 

 

 

Also You've Got Mail is my sister's favorite movie of all time, and Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks first team up since, Sleepless in Seattle, and is in my opinion thier best film together and a really good time capsule film for the early rise of the internet era. it is actually a modern re-telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, it grossed $116m dollars. 

 

 

Mulan was actually the last movie I remember seeing in theaters when I lived in Michigan, which is one of my favorite disney films ever, add a Bug's life, which I considered a rather underated Pixar film. 1998 was a fantastic year for animated films and it would have been interesting which one would have one best animated picture had the catagory been around then.  

 

 

[filmlover]

I started following box office at about this time. I have many fond memories of waiting reading Box Office Guru's weekend predictions and analysis from back in the day.

[Chaz]

'98 was a stinker outside of a handful of movies. Saving Private Ryan is a modern classic, but most of this year blewww. 

[baumer]

@Kalo....YGM is also one of my faves.  Dabney Coleman had me in stitches every time he was on screen.

 

Also, some pairings of actors just clicks and Tom and Meg certainly did.