It’s a classic “chicken or the egg” scenario, although, given the nature of the 2005 summer season, perhaps we should change that to a “penguin or the egg” scenario. As dutifully reported throughout the hot-weather period by such movie-centric publications as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, the box office was in decline for the greater part of the summer, with the weekly totals lower than comparable time frames last summer. Understandably, it was a disturbing trend for everyone in the industry — as tickets prices go up, so should box office receipts — but no one knew exactly where to lay the blame. Were audiences staying away from the theater because the movies were so bad, or were the movies so bad because, thanks to the advent of DVDs, audiences had already begun staying at home?
Certainly, when corporate coffers tend to not get filled to the bursting point, panic sets in, as studio bigwigs, perhaps sensing a modern-day equivalent of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, begin to picture themselves leaping to their deaths from the top of the Hollywood sign. But truthfully, the situation doesn’t seem nearly as bleak as painted. The quality of the films released these past four months were overall no better or worse than what we’ve been getting for the past several summers: There were some noteworthy blockbusters to go along with the duds and dogs, and we were able to once again count on the indies to pick up the slack when the big-ticket items left us wanting. As for the grosses — sure, they may have slipped, but when seven of the season’s pictures still managed to work their way onto the list of the all-time top 100 moneymakers, it’s hard to muster many tears for the executive who may be forced to buy only one vacation home this year instead of two.
Admittedly, the summer got off to a less-than-rousing start on both the commercial and critical fronts. Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven, sporting a hefty $130 million budget, was at worst supposed to be this summer’s Troy — a moneymaker — and at best this summer’s Gladiator — a moneymaker and a multi-award winner. Instead, this dull saga tanked with the majority of critics and failed to lure audiences who apparently prefer to see Orlando Bloom as a supporting player in other people’s blockbusters. The film ended up earning only $47 million domestically, though robust business overseas prevented it from being a complete debacle.
Twentieth Century Fox may have taken a bath with Kingdom of Heaven, but the studio didn’t have to blubber for long: Less than two weeks later, it opened Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith. It’d be an understatement to declare that the Force was strong in this one: Not only did the film pack theaters for weeks on end (currently, it ranks number seven all-time, just below the first Spider-Man film and just above the third Lord of the Rings flick), but it also led the way for a string of summer ’05 releases that proved to be potent earners.
It was a given that the summer’s top three hits would be Sith, War of the Worlds and Batman Begins, and it was also a good bet that family friendly titles like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Madagascar would likewise clean up. But some surprises could be found further down the ranks.
Wedding Crashers had the makings of a sleeper hit, but $188 million (and counting)? That’s even more than its raunchy predecessor There’s Something About Mary grossed. The teaming of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith had the potential to lure large audiences, but $184 million doubtless exceeded everyone’s expectations. So much for all that pre-release chatter about how their marriage-wrecking, real-life affair could potentially hurt the film.
And finally, who could have guessed that penguins would emerge as the season’s multiplex sweethearts? These flightless birds first made their mark as scene-stealing supporting characters in Madagascar, but it was their starring roles in the documentary March of the Penguins that cemented their ascension to stardom. Capitalizing on the current wave of popularity for documentaries that began in earnest with Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, March quietly waddled its way up the charts, generating extraordinary word-of-mouth and landing bookings in theaters that usually don’t screen nonfiction films. By summer’s end, the movie had grossed $56 million, enough to make it the second highest earning documentary ever (bested only by Moore’s $119 million hit Fahrenheit 9/11).
Still, not all of the surprises made investors happy. Director Michael Bay (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor) had doubtless reached the point where he believed he could make a movie about a dripping faucet and it would automatically earn over $100 million. But his latest release, the muddled sci-fi yarn The Island, proved to be a well-deserved slap in the face: Made for approximately $125 million, the picture managed to scrape together a mere $36 million. Besides The Island and the aforementioned Kingdom of Heaven, other financial wipeouts included Stealth (cost: $100m; gross: $32m), The Great Raid (cost: $80m; gross: $8m) and most likely The Brothers Grimm, which opened with $16 million but seems unlikely to recoup its $88 million budget. As for the stars, Nicole Kidman continues to prove that her status as a great actress means nothing once she agrees to star in sub-par mainstream fodder (Bewitched did no better than last summer’s The Stepford Wives), while the heralding of Will Ferrell as the new comic superstar seems premature given the middling grosses for both Bewitched and Kicking & Screaming.
Thematically, the studio fare provided variations on the same-old same-old. Over a dozen of the summer releases were either sequels, remakes or updates of TV shows — honestly, was anybody clamoring for a big-screen version of The Honeymooners or a remake of The Bad News Bears? And once again, the hot-weather months turned out to be the stomping ground for cinematic superheroes — while last summer gave us Spider-Man, Catwoman and Michael Moore, this one brought us Batman, the Fantastic Four and the teen titans of Sky High. So naturally, it was up to the indies to offer us unfamiliar sights, from the rugby-playing quadriplegics of Murderball to the rapping pimp protagonist of Hustle & Flow. And, oh yeah, penguins. Lots and lots of penguins.
THE TOPS & THE FLOPS
Summer’s Best
1. Batman Begins It’s been eight years since Joel Schumacher ran the Caped Crusader franchise into the ground with Batman & Robin, but thanks to Christopher Nolan, the series has risen Phoenix-like from the ashes. Dark, dreamlike and brooding, this literate yarn emerges as one of the finest comic book adaptations to ever hit the screen.
2. The Constant Gardener Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz both sizzle in this riveting political thriller that also boasts one of the most affecting love stories in ages. (See the Film Clips section for a review.)
3. The 40-Year-Old Virgin Many modern comedies wallow in the filth before unconvincingly turning soft and mushy in the final reel. This comic gem gets it right from the start, beginning with fully realized characters who earn our sympathies even before they get down and dirty.
4. Broken Flowers Bill Murray embarks on a road trip to look for the mother of the son he never knew he had; along the way, he encounters all manner of interesting people in Jim Jarmusch’s heartfelt ode to lives of quiet desperation.
5. Hustle & Flow A pimp realizes he’s had it with his hand-to-mouth existence and tries to make it as a rapper. Authentic location shooting and Terrence Howard’s commanding lead performance lend authority to a movie that transcends its dubious set-up by locating the song in even the most downtrodden among us.
Summer’s Worst
1. The Brothers Grimm Perhaps not since Eddie Murphy’s The Adventures of Pluto Nash has a late-August release cost so much in terms of dollars and yielded so little in terms of entertainment. It’s an ugly, noisy, clumsy spectacle — and that’s during its better moments.
2. House of Wax Released during the first “unofficial” week of summer alongside Kingdom of Heaven, this was already on its last fumes even before Memorial Day rolled around three weeks after its opening. Not even the promise of a Paris Hilton death scene could entice the undemanding.
3. High Tension Whichever studio goober thought that a French slasher flick badly dubbed into English could open during the summer season and actually make money probably had to clear out his desk within hours of its premiere. The French have a word for this: merde.
4. Monster-In-Law Is it possible for a great performer to actually forget how to act after years of retirement? Jane Fonda’s embarrassing turn in this dismal comedy certainly makes a strong case for the prosecution.
5. The Dukes of Hazzard My favorite quote of the summer: Remarking upon this dum-dum comedy’s robust opening weekend, the studio spokesman declared that “the movie performed exceptionally well in the South!” And the locals down here wonder why the rest of the nation still views them as backwood rubes…
TOP 10 MONEYMAKERS
1. Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith — $379 million
2. War of the Worlds — $232 million
3. Batman Begins — $203 million
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory — $198 million
5. Madagascar — $191 million
6. Wedding Crashers — $188 million
7. Mr. and Mrs. Smith — $184 million
8. The Longest Yard — $158 million
9. Fantastic Four — $152 million
10. Monster-In-Law — $83 million
(Through August 30. Source: www.boxofficemojo.com.)
This article appears in Sep 7-13, 2005.
