20 Years Ago today was the opening weekend for True Lies. James Cameron teamed up with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jamie Lee Curtis for the action classic. It has a fairly good Rotten Tomatoes score of 72%, a 63 on Metacritic, and 7.2 on IMDB. It opened to 25M on its way to a domestic gross of 146M. It was one of the more costly gambles in 1994, costing 115M to make. True Lies ended up with a 378M worldwide gross. It is the third highest grossing Arnold Schwarzenegger release, and his highest outside of the Terminator franchise. Adjusted for inflation, True Lies rises to #2.
Also, by todays standards, True Lies would have made 278M (which currently would be enough to make it the highest grossing film of the year). It was the 3rd highest grossing film of 1994.
It opened against Angels In The Outfield, a cute Disney movie about a boy who can see Angels. That boy turned out to be Joseph Gordon Levitt. While the film only opened to 8.9M, it spawned several straight to video Disney sequels. Critics were less kind, awarding a 35% and a 5.9 on IMDB. It ended up with a 50M domestic total, and was the 26th highest grossing film of 1994. The movie co-starred Danny Glover and Tony Danza, and also featured pre-Oscars Matthew McConaughey and Adrien Brody.
Fifteen years ago, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman starred in the controversial Eyes Wide Shut, which opened against Lake Placid, The Wood, Muppets From Space, and a little film called The Blair Witch Project.
Eyes Wide Shut would go on to be known as a disappointment, even though it opened to 21M and in 1st place. Critics generally approved, with a 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.3 on IMDB. Eyes Wide Shut ended up with 55M domestically, and 162M worldwide. It was the 42nd highest grossing film of 1999.
The Blair Witch Project, however, enjoyed a very strong opening weekend, with a per-screen average of 56K, and a weekend total of 1.5M. It was enough to put it at 16th for the week. Blair Witch would go on to earn 140M domestically, on a wild trajectory that is often attempted, but rarely duplicated. It still ranks as the highest grossing found footage movie, even though Paranormal Activity attempted a similar path. It was the 10th highest grossing film of 1999, and had a worldwide total of 248M. It was the 14th highest grossing film worldwide in 1999. Critics adored it with an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences have come to hate it now, and it only has a 6.4 on IMDB, seen as being a fad that faded.
And 30 years ago, The Muppets Take Manhattan launched against The Last Starfighter. Depending on who you ask, one of those two films is definitely still considered a classic today. The Last Starfighter was the 34th highest grossing film of 1984, and Muppets Take Manhattan was the 39th highest grossing.
And, ten years ago, Will Smith opened I Robot, which opened to 52M, on its way to 144M domestically, and 347M worldwide. Even with 347 million, I Robot is still only Will Smith’s 9th highest grossing Worldwide, and 10th domestically.
Five years ago, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince opened to 77.8M, but in an extended 5 day period made 158M. Joseph Gordon Levitt’s 500 Days Of Summer opened in limited release 15 years after Angels In The Outfield, and would go on to make 32M domestically, less than the final gross of the Disney flick.
