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

[narniadis]

Fantastic Baumer. Looking forward to the 80s

[75Live]

Ah the 80s like the docu-series said, the last great decade  

[baumer]

Hockey is on tonight, so I won't be able to get to this stuff.  But here are just a few of the films I will be covering in 1980

 

"We would be honoured if you would join us"

"Surely you can't be serious."

"Red Rum"

"It's got a death curse!"

 

[The Futurist]

Was Superman greenlit at Warner in the aftermath of Star Wars' success ?

 

 

[baumer]

3 hours ago, The Futurist said:

Was Superman greenlit at Warner in the aftermath of Star Wars' success ?

 

 

 

Essentially yes.  

[baumer]

They even tried to get Spielberg or Lucas to direct Superman.

[The Futurist]

2 minutes ago, baumer said:

 

Essentially yes.  

 

And Ridley Scott got out of Star Wars completely mad like : 

 

"What Am I doing with my first film, The Duelists ? I am doing movies for grandpas, Star Wars is the future."

 

He found the Alien scipt at Fox that nobody wanted, even 3rd rate directors, they wouldn't touch it and the rest is history as they said ...

 

Same for Cameron (He was mad as hell too because he was seeing on film for the first time what he was dreaming about, he was jealous of Lucas, but in a good and competitive way), Besson, Del Toro etc

 

And Poor little JJ, I love hearing him talk about his Star Wars infatuation , he saw it at the best/worst age, 11 Yo, and it was a traumatic experience for him ...

 

 

[Fancyarcher]

On 4/19/2017 at 4:25 PM, Tele Came Back said:

 

I want a big-ass write-up for SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT! How many of these young BOT peeps have ever seen it?

 

I have. Though it helps that my dad saw it first as well. 

 

On 4/19/2017 at 10:12 PM, Tele Came Back said:

 

 True enough, I guess. But Peckinpah had a serious substance abuse problem and it ended up costing him his career (and his life, actually). Even in his early days, he would go on heavy drinking binges, and occasionally drug binges, but he was still able to hold himself together. But even after he directed THE WILD BUNCH -- a movie that should've made him an A-lister with his choice of studio projects -- he couldn't really get those jobs because he had a reputation as a guy who picked fights with execs and was unreliable. 

 

CONVOY was at the tail end of his career and he was so troubled at that point that the studio brought in his friend James Coburn to direct "second unit" (actually, just to direct), while Peckinpah was in his trailer most of the time. It was a big hit but got savaged by critics and so it hurt Peckinpah's credibility with them. He lived only a few more years and died in 1984 (he was only 59).

 

And yes, I had to look up some of these details on Wikipedia.  

 

He also made one more film, which was also plagued by production woes and behind the scenes shenanigans. 

[Fancyarcher]

Great series BTW Baumer. Really well-thought out and researched. Plus it's great to read. 

[baumer]

Thank you @Fancyarcher.  I'm enjoying it too.

[The Futurist]

I guess Canada ain't that bad after all ...

 

[baumer]

[baumer]

1980

 

1980 also cooled a little.  It still had three 100 million dollar grossing films but only 4 films managed to make it past 75 million.  There were however 16 films that made it past 40 million, which I believe was a record up until that point.  You also had two other films finish $200,000 away from 40 million, that being Caddyshack and Friday the 13th.  

 

Finishing first was the sequel to the highest grossing film of all time (Star Wars), The Empire Strikes Back.  The film was in limited release for its first three weeks playing in only 126 theaters, and once it went wide, it opened with 10.8 million.  Strangely this was not a record as Star Trek the Motion Picture opened at 11.9 million.  If it would have been released wide upon opening, it probably would have set the record.

 

 

The film is set three years after Star Wars. The Galactic Empire, under the leadership of the villainous Darth Vader and the Emperor, is in pursuit of Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Rebel Alliance. While Vader chases a small band of Luke's friends—Han Solo, Princess Leia Organa, and others—across the galaxy, Luke studies the Force under Jedi Master Yoda. When Vader captures Luke's friends, Luke must decide whether to complete his training and become a full Jedi Knight or to confront Vader and save them.

 

Following a difficult production, The Empire Strikes Back was released on May 21, 1980. It received mixed reviews from critics initially but has since grown in esteem, becoming the most critically acclaimed chapter in the Star Wars saga; it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time. The film ranks #3 on Empire's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. It became the highest-grossing film of 1980 and, to date, has earned more than $538 million worldwide from its original run and several re-releases. When adjusted for inflation, it is the second-highest-grossing sequel of all time and the 13th-highest-grossing film in North America. The film was of course followed by Return of the Jedi, which was released in 1983.

 

In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States' National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant."

 

As we all know by now that Darth is Luke's father, but this was one of the biggest secrets in film history.  Lucas even managed to hide it from his cast right up until the last minute.  

Like the rest of the crew, David Prowse—who spoke all of Vader's lines during filming—was given a false page that contained dialogue with the shocking line being "Obi-Wan killed your father."  Hamill did not learn of the secret and he was informed just moments before cameras rolled on his close-up.

 

To preserve the dramatic opening sequences of his films, Lucas wanted the screen credits to come at the end of the films. While this practice has become more common over the years, this was a highly unusual choice at the time. The Writers and Directors Guilds of America had no problem allowing it on Star Wars, back in 1977, because the writer-director credit (George Lucas) matched the company name, but when Lucas did the same thing for the sequel it became an issue because Lucas had his last name on the start of the film (Lucasfilm), while the director and the writers had theirs on the end. They fined him over $250,000 and attempted to pull Empire out of theaters. The DGA also attacked Irvin Kershner; to protect his director, Lucas paid all the fines to the guilds. Due to the controversy, he left the Directors and Writers Guilds, and the Motion Picture Association.

 

The initial production budget of $18 million was 50% more than that of the original. After the various increases in budget, The Empire Strikes Back became one of the most expensive films of its day and after the bank threatened to pull his loan, Lucas was forced to approach 20th Century Fox. Lucas made a deal with the studio to secure the loan in exchange for paying the studio more money, but without the loss of his sequel and merchandising rights. After the film's box office success, unhappiness at the studio over the deal's generosity to Lucas caused studio president Alan Ladd, Jr. to quit. The departure of his longtime ally caused Lucas to take Raiders of the Lost Ark to Paramount Pictures.  Just one example of how stupidity and greed ended up costing a studio money.

 

While Empire Strikes Back didn't reach the zeitgeist levels of box office that SW did, it easily won the year with 209 million dollars plus almost another 250 million internationally.  It also became a monster on VHS, later on DVD as well and the box sets sold for pretty much any Star Wars version were all huge sellers.  Empire Strikes Back is considered the best sequel of all time, the best SW film and is often noted by film buffs, historians, critics and fans as one of the finest films ever made.

 

2oth Century Fox also claimed the second highest grossing film of the year with the star studded film, 9 to 5.  Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Dabney Coleman had audiences laughing with delight at this film about three women in the office place who plot revenge on their sexist, chauvinistic boss.  

 

The film was a hit, grossing over $3.9 million in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada and went on the have huge legs.   As a star vehicle for Parton—already established as a successful singer and songwriter—it launched her permanently into mainstream popular culture. Although a television series of the same name based on the film was less successful, a musical version of the film (also titled 9 to 5), with new songs written by Parton, opened on Broadway on April 30, 2009.

 

9 to 5 is number 74 on the American Film Institute's "100 Funniest Movies" and is rated "82% fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

The movie's theme song, "9 to 5", written and recorded by Parton, became one of her biggest hits of the decade. While filming the movie, Dolly found she could use her long acrylic fingernails to simulate the sound of a typewriter. She wrote the song on set by clicking her nails together and forming the beat. The song went to number one for two weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the U.S. country singles charts, and was nominated for several awards, including the Academy Award for Best Song.

 

The only other film to clear 100 million in 1980 was the comedy Stir Crazy, which starred two of comedies icons, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.  Sidney Poitier directed.  

 

The plot seems kind of simple and perhaps that's why it worked so well.  Film writer Skip Donahue and actor Harry Monroe are both fired from their jobs in New York City and leave for Hollywood. Along the way, they take odd jobs to make money. During one such job in Arizona, Skip and Harry perform a song and dance routine dressed as woodpeckers as part of a promotion for a bank. While the duo are on break, two men steal the costumes and rob the bank. However, Harry and Skip are arrested, whisked through a speedy trial and handed 125-year jail sentences.  While in prison, hilarity ensues.

 

This is the first time ( @davincicode1  will be interested in this) a black man had directed a film to a 100 million dollar gross.  

 

Airplane!  finished the year at number 4 with 83.4 million and a new genre was born.  The ZAZ team (Zucker Abrams and Zucker) wrote the script after they viewed the 1957 film Zero Hour.  Airplane was basically a mock film of Zero Hour.  Audiences and critics alike ate it up.  Many called Airplane one of the best films of 1980.  Serious actor Leslie Nielsen was cast specifically for his serious demeanor.  The ZAZ team thought it would be great to cast people against type.  Everything the ZAZ team did worked beautifully and Airplane started a whole new craze.  Soon after, films like Hot Shots, Robin Hood Men in Tights and much later Austin Powers and later the Friedberg and Seltzer team would give us films like Epic Movie, Scary Movie and Date movie.  All of them could look back on Airplane as their muse.  

 

 

Two horror films finished just outside of the top ten but they have gone on to become iconic and revered in many ways.  They are The Shining and Friday the 13th.  

 

The Shining, of course directed by Stanley Kubrick, took in 44 million or the equivalent of about 145 million today.   Unlike much of Kubrick's previous works, which developed audiences gradually through word-of-mouth, The Shining was released as a mass-market film, initially opening in two U.S. cities on Memorial Day, then nationwide within a month. 

Although contemporary responses from critics were mixed, assessment became more favorable in following decades, and it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made. American director Martin Scorsese ranked it one of the 11 scariest horror movies of all time. Critics, scholars, and crew members (such as Kubrick's producer Jan Harlan) have discussed the film's enormous influence on popular culture.

 

 

The Shining had a prolonged and arduous production period, often with very long workdays. Principal photography took over a year to complete, due to Kubrick's highly methodical nature. Actress Shelley Duvall did not get on with Kubrick, frequently arguing with him on set about lines in the script, her acting techniques and numerous other things. Duvall eventually became so overwhelmed by the stress of her role that she became physically ill for months. At one point, she was under so much stress that her hair began to fall out. The shooting script was being changed constantly, sometimes several times a day, adding more stress. Jack Nicholson eventually became so frustrated with the ever-changing script that he would throw away the copies that the production team would give to him to memorize, knowing that it was just going to change anyway. He learned most of his lines just minutes before filming them. Nicholson was living in London with his then-girlfriend Anjelica Huston and her younger sister, Allegra, who testified to his long shooting days.

 

While the Shining is famous for Kubrick being Kubrick, it's also shrouded in mystery.  I won't get into the ostensible conspiracy of it, but if you would like to learn more about the supposed possible cover-ups that took place, or what the film really might have been about, I suggest you watch the documentary Room 237.  Very interesting stuff.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_237

 

And now we get to one of the most influential and long lasting legacies of all time, at least in the horror genre.  This is of course, Friday the 13th.  

 

Friday the 13th was produced and directed by Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously worked with filmmaker Wes Craven on the film The Last House on the Left. Cunningham, inspired by John Carpenter's Halloween, wanted Friday the 13th to be shocking, visually stunning and "[make] you jump out of your seat". Wanting to distance himself from The Last House on the Left, Cunningham wanted Friday the 13th to be more of a "roller-coaster ride".

 

This film was intended to be "a real scary movie" and at the same time make the audience laugh. Friday the 13th began its life as nothing more than a title. Initially, A Long Night at Camp Blood was the working title during the writing process, but Cunningham believed in his "Friday the 13th" moniker, and quickly rushed out to place an advertisement in Variety. Worried that someone else owned the rights to the title and wanting to avoid potential lawsuits, Cunningham thought it would be best to find out immediately. He commissioned a New York advertising agency to develop his concept of the Friday the 13th logo, which consisted of big block letters bursting through a pane of glass. In the end, Cunningham believed there were "no problems" with the title, but distributor George Mansour stated, "There was a movie before ours called Friday the 13th: The Orphan. It was moderately successful. But someone still threatened to sue. Either Phil Scuderi paid them off, but it was finally resolved."

 

 

Part of what made Friday the 13th work was the brilliant and ominous score from Harry Manfredini.  When he began working on the musical score, the decision was made to only play music when the killer was actually present so as to not "manipulate the audience". Manfredini pointed out the lack of music for certain scenes: "There's a scene where one of the girls... is setting up the archery area... One of the guys shoots an arrow into the target and just misses her. It's a huge scare, but if you notice, there's no music. That was a choice." Manfredini also noted that when something was going to happen, the music would cut off so that the audience would relax a bit, and the scare would be that much more effective.

Because Mrs. Voorhees, the killer in the original Friday the 13th, appears onscreen only during the final scenes of the film, Manfredini had the job of creating a score that would represent the killer in her absence.  Manfredini borrows from the 1975 film Jaws, where the shark is likewise not seen for the majority of the film but the motif created by John Williams cued the audience to the shark's invisible menace.

 

Friday the 13th is (arguably) the most successful horror franchise in history.

 

 

This was 1980.

 

 

[baumer]

1981 and 1982 have two of my favourite films.....coming up!

[Eevin]

Damn, I forgot how awesome 1980 was. And it's probably one of the lesser years in its decade.

[baumer]

1980 was a great way to kick off the 80's.  But it's about to get crazy!

 

I'll try to get to 1981 soon.

[baumer]

1981 will be started soon

 

[That One Girl]

15 hours ago, baumer said:

1981 and 1982 have two of my favourite films.....coming up!

 

14 hours ago, baumer said:

I'll try to get to 1981 soon.

 

27 minutes ago, baumer said:

1981 will be started soon

 

 

 

[baumer]

I got busy last night. Sorry lol

[Premium George]

Great thread!!