Opening in cinemas on this day, twenty-five years ago...

[Monterey Jack]

[Paul MacLean]

I've actually only seen one of those -- The Sixth Sense (and wasn't a fan).

If we need to go back to any time, it's to summer of 1982 or 84!

[AndyDursin]

IRON GIANT didn't open on August 6th and those 3 wide releases were a mixed bag: you had one instant smash, one decent performer, and one money loser out of the three.

I agree with Paul though - honestly there was a lot of junk by the mid to late 90 and it was quite a drop from the quality of the 80s.

I mean, look at how many bad movies there were out in release during the summer of 1999 -- but at least there were more choices!

Weekend Box Office 8/8/99 edition:

1 1 The Sixth Sense $8,699,000 -9.9% - 2,161 $4,025 $26,681,262 3 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
2 2 Runaway Bride $5,811,000 -30.7% -37.8% 3,161 $1,838 $73,820,993 10 Paramount Pictures
3 3 The Thomas Crown Affair $4,447,000 -22.9% - 2,427 $1,832 $14,600,719 3 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
4 5 Inspector Gadget $3,123,000 -10% -28.3% 2,862 $1,091 $64,779,601 17 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
5 4 Mystery Men $2,990,415 -18.4% - 2,136 $1,400 $10,017,865 3 Universal Pictures

6 6 The Haunting $1,910,650 -23.6% -56.3% 2,881 $663 $77,340,946 17 DreamWorks Distribution
7 7 American Pie $1,400,100 -9.3% -35.4% 1,795 $780 $85,508,040 31 Universal Pictures
8 8 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $757,870 -14% -30.4% 1,199 $632 $412,775,151 82 Twentieth Century Fox
9 - Lake Placid $267,000 - -68.9% 815 $327 $28,749,158 24 Twentieth Century Fox
10 9 Wild Wild West $198,413 -35% -73.6% 1,157 $171 $110,726,211 40 Warner Bros.

[Monterey Jack]

I saw a double-feature of Iron Giant and Thomas Crown Affair on August 6th, so the former was definitely released on that date.

Just look at the VARIETY of those movies, though, all in wide release at the same time...a sexy, adult caper movie, an emotional ghost story, a superb animated feature for families, and the only superhero movie of the bunch was a comedy sending up the cliches of a genre that was still in its relative infancy at the time. This is what's been gradually eroded over the last quarter-century. Now pretty much every weekend of the year has some form of megabudget F/X picture, usually one attached to a franchise that's at least thirty years old. And if you want an adult drama, funny comedy, or quality children's movie that isn't a frantic, Minion-style fart-fest...

[AndyDursin]

Looks like you're right. Not sure what link that was from but this is the correct weekend number:

1 - The Sixth Sense $26,681,262 - 2,161 - $12,346 $26,681,262 1 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
2 2 The Blair Witch Project $24,347,345 -16.6% 2,142 +1,041 $11,366 $80,049,728 4 Artisan Entertainment
3 1 Runaway Bride $20,772,654 -40.7% 3,161 +3 $6,571 $73,820,993 2 Paramount Pictures
4 - The Thomas Crown Affair $14,600,719 - 2,427 - $6,015 $14,600,719 1 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
5 3 Deep Blue Sea $11,204,559 -41.4% 2,901 +47 $3,862 $45,511,440 2 Warner Bros.
6 - Mystery Men $10,017,865 - 2,136 - $4,690 $10,017,865 1 Universal Pictures
7 5 Inspector Gadget $9,173,995 -35.1% 2,862 -15 $3,205 $64,779,601 3 Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
8 4 The Haunting $6,439,877 -57.8% 2,881 +17 $2,235 $77,340,946 3 DreamWorks Distribution
9 - The Iron Giant $5,732,614 - 2,179 - $2,630 $5,752,816 1 Warner Bros.
10 6 American Pie $4,146,445 -38.9% 1,795 -641 $2,309 $85,508,040 5 Universal Pictures

I love the variety, don't get me wrong...at least there were movies to see...the reality is this is going to be chalked up to "before streaming" because it's never going to be the same, which is underscored by this local story.

Showcase Seekonk was one of the first multiplexes in the Providence area. I saw EMPIRE STRIKES BACK there as a kid, remembering when my grandmother sat on the floor along with Brown University students waiting for the first show. All of it I can recall pretty clearly even though I was 5 -- the kids going crazy when the Fox logo played, clapping and cheering during the film, and those students being nice to my Nana.

That original Showcase Seekonk closed years ago and has laid dormant because they constructed a newer one down the road a mile away -- and now THAT one is about to be torn down.

Market Basket paid $10 mil and bought ought that newer (and still operating) Showcase -- presumably to close it I'd assume. This complex was from the late 90s and I saw MASK OF ZORRO there among some other movies (SNAKE EYES and SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE, which was the only trip I had there with Joanne). It was one of the first "stadium seating" venues I think for most theaters locally. I also remember seeing DEEP BLUE SEA there with my Mom, on the way back from visiting Lukas on the Vineyard and her picking me up from the ferry in New Bedford.

Anyway, it's going to be torn down and replaced with a grocery store, and while I hate to say it but there's more of this coming.

[TaranofPrydain]

There was a definite decay that was coming over Hollywood films in the late 1990s (I'd still argue that 1993 was the last bona fide great movie year), and I am far from being a fan of 1999.....but Sixth Sense, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Iron Giant were three of the 30 or so films that year that were worth watching, actually good films. I'd swap out Mystery Men though for another August 1999 comedy, the underrated Bowfinger. This last decade, there have been so scant few pleasing films that it is hard sometimes to come up with even a top 10 for the whole year.

[AndyDursin]

Another great call there with Bowfinger. Pretty cutting satire with Heather Graham as Steve Martin's ex Anne Heche more or less!