Before there was Barbenheimer: 17 other memorable movie matchups

People usually look towards Jaws as being the OG blockbuster but 1973’s The Exorcist had audiences lining up around the block. The film opened at Christmas—and really, what better release date is there for a shockingly graphic horror movie about demonic possession than December 26—and its box office competition was the Robert Redford-Paul Newman caper comedy The Sting. The two films could not be more diametrically opposed, although both The Sting and The Exorcist earned 10 Oscar nominations. The William Friedkin-directed classic won only two awards, whereas The Sting took home seven trophies, including Best Picture. In the end, The Exorcist earned over $441 million worldwide and spawned about many (mostly lousy) sequels, whereas The Sting stole $156 million and spawned one (totally lousy) sequel.

The dates and release patterns are a bit wonky, as Smokey And The Bandit started in regional release and Star Wars (back when it was just called Star Wars) initially debuted in a few dozen theaters. But by Memorial Day 1977, they went head-to-head. Who won the box office crown that weekend? Burt Reynolds and Sally Field, whose smash-up derby action-comedy-romance bested George Lucas’ sci-fi classic, $1.7 million to $1.55 million. Smokey proved to be a solid hit (grossing $127 million in the U.S., $300 million worldwide), but Star Wars reached hyperspace with $461 million in America and $775 million around the galaxy. Star Wars also beat Smokey And The Bandit at the Oscars, where they were pitted against each other in the Best Film Editing category.

Now this is a double feature we’d check out. A smart edgy comedy directed by the Coen Brothers starring Nic Cage and Holly Hunter, and a Sam Raimi scary-as-fuck sequel to his surprise horror hit The Evil Dead. Both Raising Arizona and Evil Dead II unspooled in theaters starting March 13, 1987. Evil Dead II didn’t exactly make a killing, as it grossed just $800,000 that weekend and $5.9 million total (and didn’t open internationally). Meanwhile, Raising Arizona started in limited release, making it tough to compare apples to apples, but it grossed a grand total of $22.8 million in the U.S. and $29.1 million worldwide. Interestingly, the Coens and Raimi were friends. Joel helped edit The Evil Dead and both Coens co-wrote Raimi’s Crimewave (1985). In later years, they’d work together in various capacities—including cameos and sometimes uncredited work—on The Hudsucker Proxy, Darkman, and Miller’s Crossing.

Moonlighting transformed Bruce Willis into a major TV star so he tried his luck at features with Blind Date and Sunset, both duds. Then Die Hard changed everything, transforming him into an action A-lister. A Fish Called Wanda seemingly came out of nowhere, an outlandish, R-rated heist comedy with an eclectic cast that included John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. It earned stellar reviews and enjoyed a lengthy theatrical run. It’s unfair to compare their initial box office takes, since they both opened in limited release on July 15, 1988, but Wanda eventually reeled in $62.5 million in America and $188.6 million internationally, while Die Hard grossed $83.8 million at home and $141.6 million total worldwide.

June 23, 1989, what a day to be alive! Audiences could pick between a couple of hours in the company of either the Caped Crusader or Wayne Szalinski. And there was no wrong choice. Tim Burton delivered a dark, mysterious, even controversial blockbuster version of Batman, with Michael Keaton anchoring the proceedings and Jack Nicholson chewing the scenery as the Joker. Meanwhile, Rick Moranis brought the laughs as a scientist dad whose invention miniaturizes his children, sending them on a wild and colorful adventure that’s perfect for families. Batman handily won the weekend ($40.5 million to $14.2 million) and proved more successful in the long run ($411 million to $227 million worldwide), but both films launched popular franchises. Sadly, we never got the Batman, I Shrunk the Kids crossover we all deserved.

In this corner it’s Rocky Balboa! In that corner it’s Kevin McAllister! And the winner is … Kevin? As November 16, 1990 approached, movie industry pundits assumed that Sylvester Stallone’s latest Rocky installment would knock out the competition. But the movie opened to scathing reviews and a tepid box office take of just $14 million (on the way to $41 million in the U.S. and $120 million worldwide). Meanwhile, Home Alone connected with kids and families and blasted Macaulay Culkin to instant superstardom. It grossed $17 million its first weekend and spent 12 weeks atop the box office chart, ultimately taking home $258 million in North America and $477 million worldwide.

Fox and Sony probably figured very different audiences would turn out for the third Die Hard flick and a romantic comedy starring, written, produced, and directed by Billy Crystal. Only hardly anyone turned out for Forget Paris, which cast Crystal as an NBA referee in Paris (cue the endless basketball player and announcer cameos, and lush shots of the City of Light). It grossed a merdique $5.8 million to start and scored only $33 million in the U.S. and $56 million total worldwide. Meanwhile, Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson had better chemistry in Die Hard With A Vengeance than Crystal and Debra Winger did in Forget Paris, and the film as a whole rocked. It rang up $22 million to start, grossing $100 million in the States and $366 million around the globe.

This one feels like smart counterprogramming. On December 15, 1995, Heat and Jumanji went head to head in theaters. Michael Mann’s stylish adult thriller starred Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, and Diane Venora, with the mid-film diner scene between Pacino and De Niro living up to the hype. Jumanji dropped Robin Williams into a family fantasy film and let him run as wild as the film’s CGI creatures. Heat blasted its way to a respectable $8.4 million first weekend, but trailed both Jumanji, which opened at No. 1 with $11 million, and Toy Story. Though Heat ranks as a semi-classic, Jumanji enjoyed more financial success, as it sucked up $262.8 million worldwide versus Heat’s $187 million.

Mission: Impossible and Spy Hard rolled into theaters two days apart, with Tom Cruise’s first stint as IMF hero Ethan Hunt opening May 22, 1996, and Leslie Nielsen’s satirical take on James Bond arriving May 24. Nielsen, at the time still early in his long run of hit-and-miss silly comedies, starred as Dick Steele, aka Agent WD-40. Nicolette Sheridan co-starred as a Russian agent. Mission: Impossible won the weekend with $45 million (and grossed $457.7 million worldwide), while Spy Hard came in third with $10.4 million and tallied $27 million total in North America (it didn’t run overseas). What placed second that weekend? Twister, then in its third week of release.

March 31, 1999 brought with it a box office battle between The Matrix and 10 Things I Hate About You. At the time, the Wachowskis weren’t the influential filmmakers they’d soon become and The Matrix started off pretty modestly for a blockbuster, opening to the tune of $27.8 million (on the path to $172 million in the U.S. and $467 worldwide). Meanwhile, 10 Things—a teen romantic comedy inspired by Shakespeare’s 16th Century play The Taming Of The Shrew—put Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on our collective radar. It debuted to $8.3 million, and went on to earn $38 million domestic and $53.5 million worldwide. 10 Things I Hate About You remains a sharp, charming gem, while pretty much every subsequent Matrix sequel, spin-off, and reboot sullied the reputation of the truly groundbreaking original.

Since mostly older moviegoers venture out to see the latest Woody Allen comedy, only a few fanboys shut out of Spider-Man screenings might actually have given Hollywood Ending a shot. That’s the only reason we can think of as to why DreamWorks scheduled Woody’s latest against Sony’s much-anticipated superhero spectacle on May 3, 2002. The strategy didn’t work. Allen delivered another harmless, lackluster affair (that he starred in with Tea Leoni, Treat Williams, George Hamilton, and Debra Messing), while Sam Raimi and Sony reinvented the comic-book superhero tentpole adventure. The grosses: $4.8 million U.S./$14.5 million worldwide for Hollywood Ending, and $114.8 million/$825 million for Spidey.

The numbers here make you go “wow.” On the long weekend of May 18, 2005, the final film in the second Star Wars trilogy grossed $108.4 million, while Dominion—which opened May 22—scared up $140,703. Sith eventually earned $868 million worldwide, while Dominion totaled $251,495, and never played overseas. The backstory of Dominion is better than the film. Paul Schrader crafted a dark, thinking person’s prequel, which the studio hated. They brought in Renny Harlin to start from scratch (leading man Stellan Skarsgård remained) and Harlin delivered The Exorcist: The Beginning, which opened in 2004 at No. 1 with $18 million and topped out at $78 million worldwide. Production company Morgan Creek eventually let Schrader finish his version to no avail; audiences ignored Dominion, but it’s by far the better film.

This one shocked us. We assumed that James Bond, Vesper Lynd, and Le Chiffre bested Mumble, Gloria, and Ramon when Casino Royale and Happy Feet had their initial showdown on November 17, 2006, but that wasn’t the case. The joyous singing penguins of George Miller’s animated musical comedy took in $41.5 million that weekend versus $40.8 million for Daniel Craig’s first outing as 007. The battle continued long-term both domestically and abroad, resulting in a split decision. Casino Royale ultimately grossed $167.4 million domestic and $616.5 million worldwide, while Happy Feet danced its way to $198 million in the U.S. and $384.3 million worldwide. Probably no one was more thrilled than theater owners, who filled seats the whole holiday season with two very different audiences.

Christopher Nolan has done the counter-programming routine before, notably when his Batman flick The Dark Knight opened against Mamma Mia! on July 18, 2008. Dark Mamma or Mia Knight, or whatever you call it, worked out for everyone. Both films garnered strong reviews, and Christian Bale’s second broody trip to Gotham rang up $158 million in the U.S. on the way to a $1 billion worldwide gross, while Amanda Seyfried, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, et al. joyously sang ABBA songs to the tune of $27.7 million on weekend one in America and, ultimately $610 million across the globe. Money, money, money, it’s so funny … indeed.

Did you hear about the Morgans? Yes, we heard that Sarah Jessica Parker and Hugh Grant played them in one of the weakest rom-coms in their respective careers. How bad is it? Poor Parker has to milk a cow. Cue the laughs. Or not. Did You Hear About The Morgans debuted to $6.6 million in its opening weekend—December 18, 2009—and earned $85 million worldwide. Meanwhile, James Cameron’s little indie film, Avatar, which kicked off two days earlier, grossed $77 million, making it a hit rather than a blockbuster at first. And then it blew up into an international phenomenon that ultimately banked $785 million domestically, and $2.92 billion worldwide.

On May 15, 2015, Warner Bros. and Universal duked it out, with the former unleashing George Miller’s latest Mad Max adventure after decades of anticipation and the latter releasing the sequel to its surprise hit, music-driven comedy from 2012. So you had Tom Hardy vs. Anna Kendrick, and apocalyptic action against a capella awesomeness. Shockingly, Pitch Perfect 2 decimated Fury Road, earning $69.2 million in its opening weekend to Fury Road’s $45.4 million. Fury Road, however, enjoyed broader franchise/brand recognition overseas, grossing $415.2 million worldwide to Pitch Perfect 2’s $287.5 cume. That said, it cost about five times more to make Fury Road than Pitch Perfect 2.

It was a fait accompli that The Rise Of Skywalker would trounce Cats when both films arrived in theaters on December 20, 2019. But no one could’ve predicted just how purr-fectly pawful Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Broadway musical would be. Ian McKellen with whiskers? Judi Dench’s visible human hand! Against a nearly $100 million budget, it scratched out $6.6 million in its debut and $75 million total worldwide. A cat-astrophe. The Rise Of Skywalker (which opened in a handful of markets on December 18) hauled in $177.4 million and, ultimately, $1 billion across the galaxy. That sounds great, but it was $334 million less The Last Jedi and almost $1 billion less than The Force Awakens.