2. The Iron Giant - (August 3rd, 1999)
You will notice that this is the first film on the list to open before the turn of the century. Thats because the game has changed since then. In the late 90s, you may see 14 or 15 movies in cinemas at any given time. Now in 2013, despite the difficulty it is to get anything other than explosions and sequels into cinemas, you may find roughly 140-170 films in theaters at one time. and this was not a subtle change. But even that long ago a film like The Iron Giant still had its work cut out for it. Can anyone tell me the last time they saw an animated film in August that wasn't Dreamworks or Disney? A rare find, to be sure. For such a great animated film, with some heart and story that I hope my own kids will find worth watching in the future, this movie didn't even make back its budget never mind profit. In fact, with this movie opening in ninth place on its opening weekend I almost missed it during my research. The number one movie at the time? The Sixth Sense. It would have been impossible to compete with a film that was taking pop-culture circles by storm. Everyone and their dog were talking about it. But being stuck at the end of summer with no one caring to spend money on unproven material, this animated beauty was lost in the winds along with The Page Master and Anastasia.