In 1998, the film group achieved four major hits: Mulan, Disney's 36th full-length animated feature, reinforced the company's preeminent position in animated films, achieving a domestic box office of $121 million.
Touchstone's Armageddon, which was released in July and went on to earn nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office, set a new mark as the highest-grossing live-action movie ever released by the company.
Good Will Hunting, in addition to winning Academy Awards® for best supporting actor (Robin Williams) and best screenplay (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck), became Miramax's all-time box office champ with $138 million in the U.S. alone. This success, combined with such other films as Scream 2, which grossed $101 million at the U.S. box office, and Halloween: H20, with $55 million, catapulted Miramax to its best year ever.
In November, Touchstone's The Waterboy enjoyed the biggest opening for a comedy in Hollywood history, as the modestly budgeted film grossed $39 million during its opening weekend, which was also the biggest opening ever for a live-action film from The Walt Disney Studios.
During the holiday season, the studios offered three major films: Enemy of the State, starring Wil Smith and Gene Hackman; the Disney event film Mighty Joe Young, and A Bug's Life, which opened to $46.1 million, an industry record for Thanksgiving weekend.
As part of a long-range plan, the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group is implementing a strategy of reducing the number of non-Disney-branded live-action films it will produce each year, with the goal of reducing overall financial exposure while increasing corporate return on investment.
Coming in the spring and summer are such live-action films as The Other Sister, a bittersweet comedy about a family dealing with a mentally challenged daughter's desire for greater independence, directed by Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman) and starring Diane Keaton; My Favorite Martian, featuring Christopher Lloyd, Jeff Daniels and Daryl Hannah in an update of the classic TV comedy about a stranded Martian, and The 13th Warrior, a sweeping epic starring Antonio Banderas, based on Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead.
Slated for the 1999 fall and holiday season are Inspector Gadget, starring Matthew Broderick in a live-action version of the popular cartoon series, and an as-yet-untitled film starring Al Pacino and directed by Michael Mann (Heat) about a tobacco company executive who exposes his employer's fraudulent research to the media.
Top: Matthew Broderick stars as the human Swiss Army knife, Inspector Gadget, who has thousands of tricks up his sleeves.
Bottom Left: Christopher Lloyd stars in My Favorite Martian, a feature-length update of the classic television comedy, coming this spring.
