Here are some numbers that will choke up a movie lover. I took a list of the “Top 250 Movies of 2003” and singled out ones that I thought were especially good, or seemed good (there are some I haven’t seen myself), that made under $40million. The results are shocking.
The next time someone complains that there aren’t any good movies, they can just fuck off. There ARE good movies, but few go to see them.
Some of these opened limited in 2002 and went wide in 2003. The totals are for its entire run.
These are Domestic (North America) totals unless specified otherwise.
25Th Hour (Bv) $13,078,082
A Mighty Wind (Wb) $17,781,006
Adaptation (Sony) $22,418,199
American Splendor (Fine Line) $6,010,990
Antwone Fisher (Foxsearch) $21,078,145
Bend It Like Beckham (Foxsearch) $32,543,449
Better Luck Tomorrow (Par. Cl) $3,802,390
Bowling For Columbine (Mgm/Ua) $21,576,018
Bubba Ho-Tep (Vitagraph) $1,154,791
Camp (Ifc) $1,629,862
Capturing The Friedmans (Magnolia) $3,119,113
City Of God (Miramax) $4,795,285 ($20,599,285 Worldwide)
Confessions Of Dangerous Mind (Miramax) $16,007,718
Confidence (Lionsgate) $12,217,840
Dancer Upstairs, The (Foxsearch) $2,377,348
Dark Blue (Mgm/Ua) $9,250,301
Dirty Pretty Things (Miramax) $8,078,656 ($13,078,656 Worldwide)
Down With Love (Fox) $20,305,251
Elephant $1,266,955 ($7,368,627 Worldwide!)
Far From Heaven (Focus) $15,872,397
Good Thief, The (Foxsearch) $3,517,797
Human Stain, The (Miramax) $5,364,701 ($11,021,652 Worldwide)
I Capture The Castle (Idp) $1,179,035
In The Cut (Sony) $4,717,455
Intolerable Cruelty (Univ) $35,188,940
Laurel Canyon (Sony Cl) $3,663,356
Luther (Rs Ent.) $5,781,086
Magdalene Sisters, The (Miramax) $4,890,878
Mambo Italiano (Idp) $6,253,026
Man On The Train, The (Par. Cl) $2,542,020
Man Without A Past, The $921,847
Narc (Par) $10,465,659
Northfork (Par. Cl) $1,420,678
Nowhere In Africa (Zeitgeist) $6,180,200
Pianist, The (Focus) $32,543,587
Pieces Of April (Mgm/Ua) $2,397,565
Quiet American, The (Miramax) $12,988,801
Rabbit-Proof Fence (Miramax) $6,177,030
Raising Victor Vargas (Idp) $2,073,984
Russian Ark (Wellsprng) $3,011,013
Secret Lives Of Dentists, The (Manhattan) $3,707,346
Shattered Glass (Lionsgate) $2,128,485
Station Agent, The $4,739,269
Swimming Pool (Focus) $10,121,640
I’ve seen all but 11 of these. Some of the ones I missed came and went while I was moving over the summer, or were here and gone quickly during a time when I didn’t have any money.
Here are some totals for current excellent films (I have seen all of them), some of which opened limited in December.
21 Grams $7,869,980 ($12,290,803 Worldwide)
Big Fish $9,575,584
Cooler, The (Lionsgate) $1,976,406
Girl With A Pearl Earring $959,305
House Of Sand And Fog $6,056,533
In America $10,722,787
Lost In Translation $31,773,235 ($32,297,010 Worldwide)
Peter Pan $35,826,145
Barbarian Invasions, The $806,045
Triplets Of Belleville, The $7,452,072