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Wednesday February 26, 2020

Box Office: Three Eddie Murphy Trivia Questions

Rising: The Billy Bear bar scene in “48 Hrs.”

Quick trivia question: What was the first feature film starring Eddie Murphy—i.e., no concert films, no “Best Defense,” which was a Dudley Moore vehicle—that wasn't among the 10 highest-grossing movies of the year?

Answer: it took a while. Here's his ‘80s output:

YEAR MOVIE RT % BOX OFFICE YEAR BO
1982 48 HRS  93% $79 7th
1983 Trading Places  87% $90 4th
1983 Eddie Murphy Delirious  83%  n/a  n/a
1984 Beverly Hills Cop  81% $316 1st
1986 The Golden Child  26% $80 8th
1987 Eddie Murphy Raw  81% $51 20th
1987 Beverly Hills Cop II  45% $154 3rd
1988 Coming to America  67% $128 3rd
1989 Harlem Nights  21% $61 21st

It wasn’t until the end of the decade, with the abyssmal “Harlem Nights,” that audiences finally went “Nah.” to Eddie. Otherwise, in the ‘80s, he didn’t star in anything that wasn't critically acclaimed or box-office gold, and usually both. Since then, the reverse. Here's the ‘90s output—live action only:

YEAR MOVIE RT BO YEAR BO
1990 Another 48 Hrs.  18% $81 14th
1992 Boomerang  44% $70 18th
1992 The Distinguished Gentleman  13% $47 34th
1994 Beverly Hills Cop III  10% $43 34th
1995 Vampire in Brooklyn  10% $20 82nd
1996 The Nutty Professor  64% $129 8th
1997 Metro  15% $32 65th
1998 Dr. Dolittle  42% $144 6th
1998 Holy Man  12% $12 118th
1999 Life  50% $64 37th
1999 Bowfinger  81% $66 35th

Amazing thing? I actually kept going to his movies. Was I on autopilot? Did I think he would return to form? I definitely saw both “Boomerang” and “The Distinguished Gentlemen” in theaters. I think I waited on “Nutty Professor” until its video release. I think I was disappointed that he even made it. Eddie doing a Jerry Lewis remake? He was supposed to be better than that. But his trajectory followed that of most other SNL breakout stars: mock the cultural crap on “SNL,” then contribute to it in Hollywood. 

“Shrek” and his AA nomination helped obscure how bad the aughts were for him. Here’s the live-action movies. Remember in the ‘80s when his movies were both critically acclaimed and box-office hits? Now he couldn’t manage either. 

YEAR MOVIE RT BO YEAR BO
2000 Nutty Professor II: The Klumps  26% $123 16th
2001 Dr. Dolittle 2  42% $113 16th
2002 I Spy  16% $34 78th
2002 The Adventures of Pluto Nash  4% $4 177th
2002 Showtime  25% $38 70th
2003 Daddy Day Care  27% $104 26th
2003 The Haunted Mansion  14% $76 38th
2006 Dreamgirls  78% $103 19th
2007 Norbit  9% $96 30th
2008 Meet Dave  20% $12 139th
2009 Imagine That  41% $16 119th

When did it finally feel like it had all slipped away for him? Or maybe if the paycheck was there, he didn't care? What other explanation is there for this? 

So if the first feature film starring Eddie to not be among the top 10 box-office hits of the year was “Harlem Nights,” what was his last feature film—and live-action (no “Shrek”), to have that distinction? The thing that he used to do so easily—when was the last time he did it? 

You‘ve got to go back to “Dr. Doolittle” in 1998. In the most recent decade, he barely did anything. He limped through it and then righted himself at the end with “Dolemite.” He reminded us why he mattered.

YEAR MOVIE RT BO YEAR BO
2011 Tower Heist  67% $78 43rd
2012 A Thousand Words  0% $18 112th
2016 Mr. Church  24% $1 260th
2019 Dolemite Is My Name  97% n/a n/a

I’d like to think he learned his lesson from “Dolemite,” but these are the movies on his plate according to IMDb:

  • “Coming 2 America”
  • “Triplets” (a sequel to “Twins,” with Arnold and Danny, in which the missing sibling is Eddie)
  • “Beverly Hills Cop IV”

Third and final trivia question: Animated movies and concert films aside, what is the highest-rated Eddie Murphy movie according to the users of IMDb?

Would you believe THIS

Posted at 09:50 AM on Wednesday February 26, 2020 in category Movies - Box Office