Film Clips: mid-level box-office hits in 2006
So much has been written about the staggering grosses of mega-hits such as “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” with Johnny Depp and “The Da Vinci Code” with Tom Hanks that smaller releases with impressive box-office totals often get lost in the shuffle. The low-profile titles often perform better overseas than on these shores and help studio chiefs pay the bills by delivering a nice return on investment due to their modest budgets and multimillion-dollar returns. They also earn small fortunes at they turn up on DVD, pay-per-view, cable and, eventually, network television.
Some of the smaller pictures that performed well in 2006 (with all figures taken from Variety) include:
“Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties”: The fat-cat follow-up, featuring Bill Murray again performing the voice of the computer-animated Garfield, was ignored by American audiences.
It grossed just $28 million here, but overseas the family picture took in a whopping $112 million, bringing its global gross to a very profitable $140 million.
“The Pink Panther”: When it was announced that Steve Martin would fill the shoes of the late, great Peter Sellers and play bumbling French Inspector Jacques Clouseau, many film buffs shook their heads in disbelief. General audiences around the world, however, embraced Martin and this broad slapstick comedy.
“Panther” roared in America with an $82 million gross and almost equaled that amount overseas, taking in $76 million for a total of $158 million.
Not surprisingly, Martin is expected to be back in the “Pink” for a sequel.
“Big Momma’s House 2”: Comic-actor Martin Lawrence knows what his fans want.
This very broad farce grossed $70 million in the United States and Canada and $67 million overseas. Its global gross of $137 million guarantees that more “Momma” is on the way.
“You, Me and Dupree”: There’s an audience segment hungry for romantic comedies, even ones that fall short in terms of good vibrations and laughs.
Take “You, Me and Dupree,” starring Kate Hudson, Owen Wilson and Matt Dillon in a mildly entertaining tale about a guy who moves in with a newlywed couple and then refuses to leave their house.
Despite a soft opening and mediocre reviews, the PG-13 picture eventually grossed $76 million in the United States and Canada before adding $54 million overseas. Its total of $130 million made it a profitable venture for all involved.
“The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”: The profitable third installment of the “Fast and the Furious” franchise ranks as one of the biggest box-office surprises of 2006.
Most industry observers figured interest in the illegal-street-racing series had run out of gas, especially after Paul Walker, who stars in the first two, refused to get back in the driver’s seat. (Vin Diesel bailed out of the series after the original.)
The producers moved the production to an exotic location and created flashy trailers, and “Tokyo Drift” ended up grossing $63 million here and $95 million overseas for an impressive global total of $158 million.
That kind of cash buys a lot of cars and also guarantees that a fourth pedal-to-the-metal title is on the drawing boards.
“Inside Man”: Director Spike Lee’s smart bank-heist thriller starring Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster and Clive Owen received strong reviews but some industry insiders worried that the R-rated picture’s complicated plot might work against it.
That certainly wasn’t the case.
“Inside Man” played for numerous weeks in theaters as word-of-mouth endorsements fueled it. The film grossed $89 million here and $96 million overseas. Its total of $185 million made it the 17th highest-grossing film of 2006.
“Hoodwinked”: This $15 million computer-animated tale used a hip story line that twisted classic fairy tales.
The colorful low-budget project – the first computer-animated picture created with computers purchased at regular retail outlets – grossed a very respectable $51 million here and $57 million overseas for a global total of $108 million.
“Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”: The creators of this R-rated comedy, starring Sacha Baron Cohen as a politically incorrect foreign reporter are earning fortunes thanks to the huge returns on this modestly mounted $30 million picture.
It grossed $126 million here and $114 million on foreign shores, resulting in a global gross of $240 million.
The distributors would love to finance a sequel, but Cohen said that isn’t possible. He was able to create the often-uncomfortable comedy in “Borat” because no one knew his real identity.
Now that everyone around the world recognizes Borat and who plays him, Cohen and his creative cohorts believe a sequel would be impossible, though money sometimes has a way of making things happen.
‘Snakes’ crashes
One major misfire in 2006 was “Snakes on a Plane,” which became a sensation on the Internet months before it was released.
The producers believed the computer buffs who had been following the progress of “Snakes” would pack theaters and turn it into a hit, but that never happened. The R-rated action spoof, featuring an energized Samuel L. Jackson, grossed just $34 million here and $28 million overseas for a total of $62 million worldwide.
That was enough to cover the cost of making and marketing the low-budget picture, but didn’t leave enough profit to even purchase pet food for the slithering stars.