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If you’ve read anything about the box office lately, you’ve probably heard that this year, the weekend is looking like a disappointing one. Newcomer The B.F.G. has less buzz than expected, as does The Legend of Tarzan—and Independence Day: Resurgence, which came out last week, was already a slow starter. Take a look at box-office history, though, and you’ll see that a date long associated with summer blockbusters has hosted plenty of surprises in years past—especially since Independence Day cemented the 4th as a major cinematic milestone. Let’s begin at the turn of the century:
**2000: The Year The Perfect Storm Beat The Patriot
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I mean, right? George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg beat out Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger by a landslide at the weekend box office in 2000, as The Perfect Storm raked in almost double what The Patriot made. To be fair, The Patriot had come out on the Wednesday before the weekend started, whereas The Perfect Storm had a Friday release.
Looking back, it’s safe to say that neither of these was a world-changing movie—but in this clash of the movie-star titans, The Patriot has probably proven to be more enduring than its opponent. At least you still see it re-run on T.V. every now and again. How often do you think to yourself, “Today is the day I want to re-watch The Perfect Storm?”
**2001: The Year Cats & Dogs Won 4th of July Weekend
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Years in which Independence Day falls on a Wednesday are tough. Which weekend counts—the one before the holiday, or after? In 2001, at least, the weekend of July 6 to 8 saw more new releases in theaters and incidentally made more money—and do you know what ended up winning that weekend? The beloved cinematic classic Cats & Dogs.
The children’s movie based around feline/canine enmity beat out Scary Movie 2 and Kiss of the Dragon, among other titles. Would kids these days still watch this puzzling film, which the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern called grindingly tedious? I mean, it’s part of the Jeff Goldblum oeuvre, so they absolutely should. But somehow, I don’t think so.
**2006: The Year Superman Returns Bested The Devil Wears Prada
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Not to diss Superman Returns, but retrospectively, this one might be the most ironic win of the bunch. Superman beat Meryl at the box office not only in the movie’s opening weekend, but in lifetime box office gross, as well.
But the degree to which The Devil Wears Prada has penetrated pop culture needs no explanation—as does the degree to which Superman Returns didn't.
2010: The Year The Last Airbender Flopped
Let’s be fair to M. Night Shyamalan here: he was going up against Eclipse, the third entry in the Twilight film saga. He didn’t stand a chance.
Even so, the movie flopped, hard. Blame Shyamalan’s languishing reputation at the time, the difficulties of translating anime to live action, or sheer bad luck. Regardless of the reason, The Last Airbender became one of those movies the Independence Day box office quickly forgot.
**2013: The Year Johnny Depp Lost to a Bunch of Minions
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We’re getting into recent history here, so it’s safe to assume no one has forgotten the mess that was The Lone Ranger. Johnny Depp fought the minions of Despicable Me 2—but unfortunately for Depp, the yellow gumdrops with eyes won.
This movie came toward the beginning of Depp’s box-office decline, which continued with Transcendence and Mortdecai before briefly being broken by last year’s Black Mass—only to resume again this year with Alice Through the Looking Glass.
**2015: The Year Terminator Genisys Got Terminated
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Rounding out our list is a flop many hoped wouldn’t happen: Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator Genisys. There was so much to root for here, chief among them Schwarzenegger as a geri-action hero—proving he might be “old, but not obsolete.”
Unfortunately, the Terminator couldn’t beat out Inside Out or Jurassic World, even though both had premiered prior to Independence Day weekend. Not even the addition of a Game of Thrones star, the Khaleesi Emilia Clarke, could save this movie’s receipts. Luckily, Clarke’s next outing at the box office, this year’s Me Before You, has fared much better. Maybe they should’ve held that one for July 4.
(VANITY FAIR)
