Reign of Fire
Release Date:
July 12, 2002
The apocalypse has come and gone and left dragons in its wake. And, apparently, some humans, too. Set in the United Kingdom in some future time, a British militia leader/dragonslayer (Christian Bale) joins forces with an American firefighter (Matthew McConaughey) to kill the dragons that are incinerating the world. It's like Battlefield Earth - with dragons!! (John Travolta sold separately.)
Izabella Scorupco, last seen in Vertical Limit, co-stars in the film, while Rob Bowman (X-Files) directs. Bale has had a buzz around him ever since he did turns in American Psycho and Shaft. American Psycho was a small film that opened to $4.96 million while Shaft, a film where Samuel Jackson was the main lead, took in $21.72 million. Bale's box-office pull is decidedly untested. If we just go ahead and forgive McConaughey for the atrocity that was The Return of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, he has proven to be a very solid performer in recent years, with romantic comedy The Wedding Planner debuting to $13.51 million. Of course, it is important to note that he was co-starring with a hot, sexy musical superstar. His other somewhat substantial hit, U-571, took in $19.55 million opening weekend, but again, he was co-starring with a hot, sexy...oh wait, I guess Jon Bon Jovi can't be equated with J-Lo.
The film itself is being sold as one of the most unusual action films in several years, which isn't surprising considering Bowman's track record for unique movie and tv ideas. The commercials are driving home the central selling point of the film: dragons vs. helicopters. This strategy appears to be working as the trailer proved to be a very popular download in its first weekend on the web. The mix of tech and fantasy with a small slice of Aliens thrown in offers the promise of a tantalizing movie-going experience. (Jason Dean and David Mumpower/BOP)
Vital statistics for Reign of Fire |
| Main Cast |
Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Izabella Scorupco, Gerald Butler |
| Supporting Cast |
Alice Krige, Duncan Keegan, Rory Keenan, Doug Cockle, Randall Carlton, Alexander Siddig, Scott Moutter, Benny Nieves |
| Director |
Rob Bowman |
| Screenwriter |
Gregg Chabot, Kevin Peterka, Matt Greenberg |
| Distributor |
Buena Vista |
| Trailer |
Click Here for Trailer
|
| Official Site |
http://www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/reign |
| Rating |
PG-13 |
| Running Time |
101 minutes |
| Screen Count |
2,629 |
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Talent in red has entry in The Big Picture |
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Comparison films for Reign of Fire |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Mummy Returns, The |
5/4/01 | 68.14 |
72.72 |
3401 |
20035.00 |
20566.9 |
202.01 |
215.60 |
2.96 |
| Mummy, The |
5/7/99 | 43.37 |
51.68 |
3210 |
13511.00 |
15425.9 |
155.25 |
185.01 |
3.58 |
| Gladiator |
5/5/00 | 34.82 |
38.95 |
2938 |
11852.00 |
12753.5 |
186.61 |
208.76 |
5.36 |
| Mortal Kombat |
8/18/95 | 23.28 |
32.27 |
2421 |
9616.00 |
12821.3 |
70.43 |
97.63 |
3.03 |
| Shaft |
6/16/00 | 21.71 |
24.28 |
2337 |
9290.00 |
9996.7 |
70.30 |
78.64 |
3.24 |
| U-571 |
4/21/00 | 19.55 |
21.87 |
2583 |
7569.00 |
8144.7 |
79.07 |
88.45 |
4.04 |
| Mortal Kombat: Anihilation |
11/21/97 | 16.77 |
22.03 |
2140 |
7836.00 |
9901.7 |
35.89 |
47.14 |
2.14 |
| Knight's Tale, A |
5/11/01 | 16.51 |
17.62 |
2980 |
5541.00 |
5688.1 |
56.08 |
59.85 |
3.40 |
| Dragonheart |
5/31/96 | 15.03 |
20.50 |
2130 |
7056.00 |
9259.0 |
51.36 |
70.07 |
3.42 |
| Wedding Planner, The |
1/26/01 | 13.51 |
14.41 |
2785 |
4851.00 |
4979.8 |
60.40 |
64.46 |
4.47 |
| Dungeons and Dragons |
12/8/00 | 7.24 |
8.09 |
2078 |
3484.00 |
3749.0 |
15.19 |
16.99 |
2.10 |
| American Psycho |
4/14/00 | 4.96 |
5.54 |
1236 |
4013.00 |
4318.3 |
15.05 |
16.83 |
3.03 |
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