The Neverending Story is celebrating its 30th anniversary this week. Released on July 20th, 1984, The Neverending Story went on to make 20M at the box office, and spawn two sequels (which didn’t outgross the original). Many people may not know that The Neverending Story was directed by Wolfgang Peterson, who is more well known for directing action packed films like Das Boot, Air Force One, The Perfect Story, Troy, and Poseidon. Barret Oliver, who played Bastian in The Neverending Story, stopped acting in 1989, and is now a professional photographer. The Neverending Story is often recognized as a childrens classic, and has an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.4 on IMDB.
Monday will be the 25th Anniversary of Turner and Hooch, the comedy classic featuring Tom Hanks, and his partner… a dog. Turner and Hooch opened at #1 in 1989, and went on to make 71 million domestically. It was the 16th highest grossing film of 1989, and at the time it was Tom Hanks’ second highest grossing film of his career (following Big). It would be dethroned in 1992 by A League Of Their Own. Turner and Hooch received mixed reviews from critics and has a 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences enjoyed it a bit more, with a 5.9 on IMDB.
It’s the 20th Anniversary of The Client, starring the late Brad Renfro, as well as Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Sarandon was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in the film. The Client made 92M domestically, and another 25M overseas. It was the 13th highest grossing film of 1994. Despite her long career, it’s actually Susan Sarandon’s 3rd highest grossing film of all time (not counting voice-over work). When adjusted for inflation, The Client rises to 2nd with 179.6M in todays cash. The Client also did well with critics, landing an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes.
This is the 15th Anniversary of The Haunting, the PG-13 horror flick that served as a nice launching point for the careers of Catherine Zeta Jones and Owen Wilson. It opened to 33M, against the release of Inspector Gadget, which made 21M its first weekend out. The Haunting is far from beloved, it has only a 4.8 on IMDB, and a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. Inspector Gadget didn’t fare much better, with a 21% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 4.1 on IMDB. The Haunting went on to make 91M domestically, and 177M Worldwide. Adjusted, that would be 146M today, domestic. Inspector Gadget made 97M domestic, 134M worldwide, and 156M adjusted domestic.
This is the 10th Anniversary of The Bourne Supremacy, which opened to 52M in 2004. The Matt Damon sequel would go on to make 176M domestically and 288M worldwide. It was the 8th highest grossing film of 2004, and is in the Top 200 of All Time. It outgrossed The Bourne Identity (121M) and would be outgrossed by the third installment, The Bourne Ultimatum (227M). Critics liked the film, with an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, as did audiences with a 7.8 on IMDB. Adjusted for inflation, The Bourne Supremacy is the 5th highest grossing film of Matt Damon’s career at 231M. It had very little competition from the awful Catwoman, which managed a 16M opening, despite an abysmal 9% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 3.3 on IMDB. It killed the career of director Pitof, and at 40M total domestic gross, is the 14th highest grossing film of Halle Berry’s career.
Five years ago, was extremely uneventful. Disney opened G-Force, Katherine Heigl tried The Ugly Truth, and Vera Farmiga was better than her Orphan. G-Force opened to 31M, for a first place finish, onto a domestic gross of 119M. Impressive, but surprisingly not enough for a sequel. Maybe it was the 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. It did well overseas and ended up with a 292M worldwide take. The Ugly Truth opened to 27M for a 3rd place opening, onto an 88M domestic total. It did extremely well overseas (for a comedy), and ended up with 205M worldwide. Orphan opened in 4th place with 12M and critics didn’t completely hate the movie, giving it a 55% on Rotten Tomatoes. Orphan made 41M domestically, and ended up with an IMDB score of 7.0, higher than both Ugly Truth and G-Force.
