Rama’s SCREEN

Well, Labor Day weekend 2008 is officially over! Time to get back to work tomorrow, to the little cubicles, and uncomfortable offices and stress ourselves out once again. The results are in and the survey says… TROPIC THUNDER wins the Labor Day Weekend box office this year.. ding, ding, ding! It earned $14.3 Million for a total of $86 Million since it opened on August 13th, 2008.

The movies that actually opened on Labor Day Weekend this year didn’t stand a chance and failed horribly.
Babylon A.D. only earned $12 Million. That’s bad, considering it cost about $70 Million to make the movie.
Don Cheadle’s Traitor only got $10 Million
And one of the worst movies of all time, Disaster Movie, got a disastrous $6.8 Million.
damn, people actually went to see that thing?!

Let’s take a look at some of the Labor Day Kings of the last 10 years.

2007 — HALLOWEEN

Rob Zombie’s horror remake found its way at the top with $26 Million. I was actually rooting for Kevin Bacon’s revenge movie, Death Sentence, but it only earned a disappointing $4.2 Million. While the un-funny comedy, Balls of Fury got $11.3 Million.
Shows you life isn’t fair.

2006 — INVINCIBLE

The movie starring Mark Wahlberg as a nobody who got to play pro football managed to get the top rank that weekend by earning $12.1 Million. It defeated movies that actually opened on Labor Day Weekend that year. Jason Statham’s action flick about a guy who needed adrenaline shock to survive the day, Crank only got $10.4 Million. Followed by one of the worst horror remake in the history of cinema, starring Nic Cage, The Wicker Man earned $9.6 Million. Serves him right!

2005 — TRANSPORTER 2

Jason Statham’s action movie where he transported a high risk package from one hand to another drove him to the top spot that Labor Day weekend with $16.5 Million. The Constant Gardner, which featured Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz in her Oscar winning performance only earned $8.6 Million while Nic Cannon’s stupid action/comedy, Underclassman only got $2.5 Million. Ha!

2004 — HERO

Just wanna say that this is probably one of the few Jet Li’s movies that I didn’t enjoy. But it opened on Labor Day weekend that year and it took the throne by earning $18 Million. Some of its competitors were Anaconda: The Hunt For The Blue Orchid ($12.8 Million) and Ben Kingsley’s confusing thriller, Suspect Zero ($3.4 Million)

2003 — JEEPERS CREEPERS 2

The sequel to the movie that lead the box office back in 2001 follows its predecessor’s footstep and won the box office lead in 2003 by earning $15.2 Million. By the way, just like the first installment, this one also opened on Labor Day Weekend.

2002 — SIGNS

Another one of M. Night’s work that hit the home run. Joaquin Phoenix swung away to get the movie to earn $13.4 Million that weekend beating the horror slasher, Fear Dot Com, that actually opened on Labor day Weekend that year. It only earned about $5.7 Million. Yikes!

2001 — JEEPERS CREEPERS

This movie actually opened on Labor Day weekend and people flocked to the theaters to be terrified by the monster that wanted to devour Justin Long. It earned $13.1 Million. Meanwhile the movie that’s an updated version of Shakespeare’s Othello starring Josh Hartnett, Mekhi Pfiffer, and Julia Stiles, titled O only got about $5.6 Million that weekend

2000 — BRING IT ON

That year, Kristen Dunst teen flick won the box office by earning $11.4 Million chopping the head of the sequel movie that actually opened on Labor Day weekend that year, Highlander: End Game which earned $5 Million. Amanda Peet’s okay comedy Whipped only got $2.1 Million. Bummer!

1999 — THE SIXTH SENSE

M. Night Shyamalan’s ultimate masterpiece managed to hold the #1 spot for weeks during that summer since it opened on August 6th, 1999, it was a phenomenal, everybody wanted to know what the big idea was with the twist ending.
In the first weekend of September, it earned $21 Million. It defeated movies that actually opened on the Labor Day weekend that year. Antonio Banderas‘ The 13th Warrior only earned $10.2 Million while Omar Epps‘ black gangsta flick In Too Depp only earned $4.2 Million followed by the movie where Johnny Depp got to bang Charlize Theron, The Astronaut’s Wife ($4 Million). and Brendan Fraser’s lame comedy, Dudley Do Right settled for $3 Million

1998 — THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY

A Farelly brothers‘ comedy that feature Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz with Ben’s..’stuff’.. on her hair,
plus Matt Dillon with that ridiculous mustache, earned $10 Million that weekend beating the movie that actually opened on Labor Day that year which was Knock Off, one of Jean Claude Van Damme’s last big screen performance. It turned out to be a flop and earned a embarrassing $5.5 Million

This proves that most of the winners did not reflect the spirit of Labor Day.. well, except probably for Transporter 2… sorta!
But just like there’s always a Christmas movie during Christmas season. We should have movies that captures the themes of Labor Day during the first weekend of September. Movies like Hoffa, On the Waterfront, Office Space, the Grapes of Wrath, or even Gung Ho.
Ah, good times!