With the media's pursuit and the fans' support, A Few Good Men swept up a whirlwind at the end of 1992 in a strong stance. Carrying the momentum of its powerful opening week, the film's performance in the following box office journey always maintained an extremely high level, already becoming a box office success enough to be compared with Home Alone 2's year-end three-time championship.
In the third week of December, the North American film market welcomed two heavyweight works.
Warner Brothers teamed up with Mel Gibson and Jamie Lee Curtis to create Forever Young. Mel rose to fame with the Lethal Weapon series, Jamie Lee had an outstanding performance in A Fish Called Wanda, while the director was Steve Miner, who had proven himself through the TV series The Wonder Years. The screenplay was written by J. J. Abrams, who later became a sci-fi favorite because of the TV series Lost but at this point was just a newcomer. This film opened in 1,800 theaters and was considered the strongest contender for this weekend's box office champion.
Robin Williams teamed up with Barry Levinson to bring another movie, Toys. Both of these main creators had worked with Hugo before: the former had collaborated on Dead Poets Society, while the latter had directed Hugo's debut film Diner. Such a combination competing with A Few Good Men was even jokingly described by the media as a "reunion on the North American box office chart." It could be seen that Toys, which opened in 1,300 theaters, was still considered to have a certain degree of competitiveness.
But when the box office numbers came out, everyone was filled with surprise after surprise—not because Forever Young and Toys were underwhelming, nor because A Few Good Men unsurprisingly continued its championship streak, but because the fighting power of A Few Good Men was truly astonishing.
With only a 28 percent drop, A Few Good Men seized 20.5 million dollars in its second weekend, claiming the third highest second-weekend box office of the year, behind only Batman Returns and Home Alone 2, and continued its championship. Such a result was beyond even the boldest box office forecasters' imagination.
Originally, people had conservatively expected that if A Few Good Men could keep its second-week drop within 40 percent, that would be a victory. Yet the film not only reached this target but far surpassed it. In two weeks, A Few Good Men's cumulative box office had already reached 55 million dollars, with its pace closing in on Home Alone 2. In an instant, the prospect of A Few Good Men surpassing 100 million in the North American box office brightened.
"A Few Good Men easily fended off challengers, retaining the North American weekend box office crown with absolute dominance!" The New York Times, the best-selling newspaper on the East Coast, immediately reported on this week's box office chart.
"This week's two new releases were disappointing—Forever Young received a composite media score of only 61, while Toys suffered unprecedentedly poor reviews, with a composite score of 48 signaling disaster. Neither film demonstrated sufficient fighting power: the former landed in fourth place among the top ten, while the latter was only in sixth.
By comparison, in terms of holdovers, the expanded Aladdin and the steady-performing Home Alone 2 delivered much more satisfying weekend box office results, both performing brilliantly, ranked second and third this week.
The most outstanding work this weekend was undoubtedly the box office dark horse A Few Good Men. This new film starring Hugo Lancaster and Jack Nicholson continued the fiery momentum from last week's premiere, stirring up fervent pursuit across all circles. This week, with an ultra-low 28 percent drop, it forcefully retained the champion's throne on the North American weekend box office chart. Mel Gibson, Robin Williams, and Barry Levinson all retreated in the face of Hugo Lancaster's mighty power."
Only one week of 1992 remained. Yet the Christmas season was not as brilliant as Hugo had expected. The North American film market still had not been fully tapped; even the summer competition was not fierce enough, let alone the relatively flat holiday season.
This week, two new films, Hoffa and Trespass, were newly released. Although each had its talking points, both chose to open in only 1,000 theaters, clearly showing that they did not hold high expectations for the Christmas season.
Hoffa was a film starring Jack Nicholson—he had left the set early during the shooting of A Few Good Men precisely to shoot this film; Trespass was directed by Walter Hill, who had worked on the screenplay for Alien 3. The male lead was Bill Paxton, who had given remarkable performances in The Terminator and Aliens.
These two new films clearly found it difficult to attack the North American box office chart. With new releases lacking appeal while the holiday market still held demand, A Few Good Men, Aladdin, Home Alone 2, The Bodyguard, and 11 other films all increased their theater counts. A Few Good Men expanded to 2,100 theaters, while Aladdin grew the most, increasing to 2,300 theaters in one go.
Such a large-scale expansion of theaters also caused the last weekend box office of 1992 to show a comprehensive rise in green figures. The fastest climber was none other than Aladdin, soaring by as much as 85 percent, with its weekend box office leaping to 13.4 million dollars, launching a strong assault on the North American box office crown.
By comparison, A Few Good Men's stylistic disadvantage now became evident. Whether it was the family-friendly Aladdin and Home Alone 2, or the lingering romance of The Bodyguard and Forever Young, all had stronger box office appeal under the drive of Christmas, while the serious and tense A Few Good Men fell behind. Not to mention compared with Aladdin, even against Home Alone 2, now in its sixth week, A Few Good Men's growth was very limited. With only a 20 percent rise, it ranked at the very bottom among the top ten.
Even so, A Few Good Men still relied on its previously accumulated advantage, and with a 20 percent increase, it earned 24 million dollars, successfully completing another feat of three consecutive championships, with its cumulative box office surging to 82 million dollars.
From the current level, A Few Good Men passing 100 million at the box office held little suspense, and its paper cost of 40 million dollars would surely be fully recovered, while also bringing Columbia Pictures gratifying profits. If one added the praise of its reputation, then A Few Good Men's great triumph was already set in stone.
In the final weekend box office of 1992, behind A Few Good Men's triple crown, Aladdin, Home Alone 2, The Bodyguard, and Forever Young together made up the top five, while the newly released Hoffa and Trespass could only helplessly occupy sixth and seventh places.
After entering the new year, no new films were released during the customary holiday, but this did not mean the North American weekend box office competition was not intense. A Few Good Men, maintaining a 3 percent increase, earned just over 24 million dollars at the weekend, bringing it a four-time championship. Meanwhile, the steadily rising Aladdin collected 16 million dollars to once again place second, while the other rankings remained largely unchanged.
But compared with A Few Good Men's four-time championship, the more delightful news this week came from its cumulative box office data. On January 1, 1993, after the fourth week of release, A Few Good Men's cumulative box office officially crossed the 100 million threshold, becoming the first film of Hugo's acting career to break 100 million!
In the early 1990s, a box office exceeding 100 million meant enormous success. In 1990, nine films crossed the 100 million mark; in 1991, that number was eight. As a leading actor, to have a film surpass 100 million at the box office was rare in Hollywood—the so-called box office superstar was exactly at this level.
Since Hugo first appeared on the big screen in 1982, he had acted in ten films in total, and A Few Good Men was his first to break the 100 million box office mark. This could definitely be called a historic breakthrough. No amount of description or praise could compare to the directness of this figure. Hugo's position in Hollywood instantly leaped from the ranks of second-tier actors into the frontline. Although for now he could only cling to the edge of the top tier, and any failure could send him back down, this was the first time in ten years Hugo could truly be called "first-line"—a genuine first-line actor, with extraordinary significance.
Using the phrase "when misfortune reaches its limit, blessings will follow" was the most fitting way to describe Hugo's 1992. After the Golden Raspberry Awards at the start of the year, people almost thought Hugo had fallen for good, perhaps never to see that fresh, handsome young actor from Dead Poets Society again. Yet in the second half of the year, Hugo announced his comeback with two consecutive works, moving toward a new peak with vigorous momentum.
A Few Good Men's four consecutive weeks at the top was a situation no one had predicted before release—not the news media, not even Columbia Pictures, its distributor. It caught everyone completely off guard.
And with the strong four-time championship of A Few Good Men, Hugo, as the leading actor, saw his popularity rise like the scorching Sahara Desert in July, refreshing people's perception again and again. Like a shining star, he rapidly ascended in the North American film market, his popularity reaching an unprecedented height!
.....
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu