Year 2000 Box Office Review

By: Steve Biodrowski
Date: Friday, January 12, 2001

What a difference a year makes! When 1999 finished up, it was easy for fans of science fiction, horror and fantasy cinema to look back with a feeling of grand satisfaction. Genre entertainment truly ruled at the box office, taking all of the Top Six positions and eight of the Top Ten. Not only thatit was good genre entertainment. Well, we did have to sit through the The Phantom Menace, but that was not nearly enough to mar a year that included The Sixth Sense, Toy Story 2, and The Matrix.

This year also saw a variety science fiction, horror, and fantasy titles among the top box office winners of the year; however, the numbers were not as impressive, and neither were many of the films themselves. Genre titles accounted for six of the Top Ten films and fourteen of the Top Twenty-five, including the 1st and 2nd place winners, but the actual box sales were down. By way of comparison, if one includes the borderline fantasy effort American Beauty, there were fourteen fantasy titles released in 1999 that earned over $100-million; their combined totals surpass $2.5-billion. This year, on the other hand, only ten titles topped the $100-million mark, and the combined totals of the fourteen highest grosses came to under $1.9-million. (To be fair, some of the year 2000 films are still in release and could boost their earning, but not nearly enough to match last year's totals.) Clearly, expanded imaginative entertainment still sells tickets, but not nearly as many when the most creative filmmaking is not on display.

The year's big winner turned out to be How the Grinch Stole Christmas, which has taken in $257.83-million so far, with no doubt more to come. A rehash of a Dr. Seuss story previous filmed as a cartoon Christmas special, the film is part of a recent tradition of appealing to family audiences by remaking older properties that appeal to kids. Presumably, parents go along for the nostalgic value, figuring it's safe to take their children, and the kids go along little knowing that they're seeing something that's been done before. Previous efforts in this area include Casper, The Flintstones, and Dr. Doolittle, but somehow The Grinch managed to outdo them all.

The year's second biggest film was Mission Impossible II, another mystery performer, with $215.4-million at the box office. Were audience really able to forgive the lame love story and sloppily developed doppelganger theme just for a dose of director John Woo's patented action pyrotechnics? People criticized the 1996 film directed by Brian DePalma, but that was a model of coherent storytelling compared to this.


Occupying positions #6 through 9 were X-Men, Scary Movie, What Lies Beneath and Dinosaur. Of those, X-Men was a bit of an anomaly this yeara film that actually earned its success with decent storytelling, performances, and directorial style. Not a masterpiece maybe, but at least a film you didn't have to be embarrassed about likingwhich is more than you can say for Scary Movie, which managed to make about twice as much money as last year's genre spoof Galaxy Quest, despite being about half as good. What Lies Beneath was a competent but uninspired Hitchcock pastiche, and Dinosaur was about half the film it could have been, thanks to Disney's refusal to abandon its usual kiddie formula in favor of a more serious, adult tone.

Taking the #11 and #12 positions were Nutty Professor 2 and Charlie's Angels. The former was a follow-up to a hit from a couple years back; the latter, a remake of an old TV show. But at least Charlie's Angels flew with excitement and martial arts action that made its blockbuster success understandable. At #14 was What Women Want, a fantasy comedy about a man who gains the ability to hear what women think. Although not terribly sophisticated, it was much better than it could have been, thanks to Nancy Myers direction and especially to Mel Gibson's performance, so it's not surprise that audiences who gravitated to the high-concept premise came out of theatres satisfied.

Down in 18th place was Chicken Run, absolutely one of the best films of the year. At 106.8-million, it's the most successful stop-motion film ever madecause for joy and celebration until you realize that last year's execrable Stuart Little passed $140-million. What's wrong with you parents? Next time, take your kids to see the good movie. Rounding out the Top Twenty was Space Cowboys, another audience-friendly film, which could see its $91-million go up in re-release if its gets some Oscar consideration.

Landing at #22 was Unbreakable, the disappointing follow-up to The Sixth Sense. With $90-million, at least we know it won't put an end to writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's career after only a couple movies. In 23rd place was Scream 3, the finale in Dimension's slasher trilogy, which did well but failed to match its two predecessors. With the spoof Scary Movie outperforming its model by nearly $70-million, it's likely that next year will see more take-offs than genuine thrillers. Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end of the neo-slasher genre (which also saw Urban Legends: Final Cut top out at $21.47-million, approximately half its predecessor's take). Finally, at #25 was Hollow Man, an absolutely ridiculous science-fiction thriller that sold itself solely on the strength of its special effects.

In other news of note, The Cell and Mission to Mars both managed to pass $60-millionnot great, but better than one would have guessed, judging from the reviews. Fantasia 2000 fell just short of that number, having performed extraordinarily well in Imax engagements but never catching on in general release. The Road to El Dorado topped out at $50-million, showing that DreamWorks hasn't quite got the Disney success formula down pat yet. At $43-million, Pokemon 2000 made about half of its predecessor's take, but still turned a profit on Warner Brothers investment for acquiring and dubbing the film. In re-release, The Exorcist added nearly $40-million to its grand total. With $204.39-million amassed since its release in 1973, the film is poised to pass Terminator 2 and take 30th place on the all-time box office chart. Adjusted for inflation, it would probably rank considerably higher.

Finally, some news on box office losers. Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 was one of the biggest earners ever for Artisan Entertainment, with $26.19-million. However, that fell so far short of the original films $140-million-plus total that it has to be considered a major disappointmentwhich will hopefully terminated the franchise before it goes much further. Titan A.E. with a total take of only $22.75-million, had the distinction of being responsible for the closing of Fox's animation studios. And Battlefield Earth, with only $21.47-million, still managed to earn more than it deserved, being one of the worst miscalculations in recent memory. Blame it on the Thetans.

Below are the box office rankings for science fiction, horror, and fantasy films that landed in the Top 25 for the Year 2000.

U.S. Box Office Finals A.D. 2000
1.	How the Grinch Stole Christmas	$257.83-milion
2.	Mission Impossible II	$215.4-million
6.	X-Men	$157.3-million
7.	Scary Movie	$157.0-million
8.	What Lies Beneath	$155.4-million
9.	Dinosaur	$137.7-million
11.	Nutty Professor 2	$123.3-million
12.	Charlie's Angels	$122.8-million
14.	What Women Want	$114.8-million
18.	Chicken Run	$106.8-million
20.	Space Cowboys	$91.0-million
22.	Unbreakable	$90.1-million
23.	Scream 3	$89.1-million
25.	Hollow Man	$73.2-million