Coen Brothers Show 'True Grit' With First $100 Million Film
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- Last Updated: Tuesday, 12 November 2013 06:07
- Written by Lupe Haas
For most Hollywood films, the $100 million mark is just a drop in the bucket but for the Jeff Bridges western flick, TRUE GRIT has already doubled its $38 million production budget. The film adaptation dominated the holiday box office with $89 million in ticket sales. Not only will it be a profitable film but the buzz surrounding the possible Academy Award nominatations in late January will also propel movie-goers to see one of the best reviewed films of 2010.
PHOTOS: TRUE GRIT photo gallery
The 1984 drama Blood Simple. put Joel and Ethan Coen on the Hollywood map but the quirky low-budget comedy Raising Arizona (1987) with Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter and Coen favorite John Goodman became their first hit ($22.8 million) and established them as cult favorites.
Interview: Coen Brothers Discover Tween Star For TRUE GRIT
See complete list of films by box office totals.
While their names are not synonymous with blockbusters, the directing team have consistently delivered quality work and award nominations / wins over the years. Their most recent films have each earned over $100 million combined with foreign markets but their independent sensibilities have kept them from mainstream appeal. Surprisingly, The Big Lebowski, the most popular film in their filmmography, starring the Dude Jeff Bridges, only earned $17.5 million in North America.
Before True Grit, No Country For Old Men was their most successful film with a gross of $74.3 million domestically and $97.3 million overseas. The film also won big at the Academy Awards in 2007 leading with eight nominations and taking home four golden statues for Javier Bardem as Best Supporting Actor for his mop top assassin role and 3 wins for the Coen Brothers in Directing, Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay. Don't be surprised if they repeat their Academy nominations with True Grit.
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Lighter fare by the Coen Brothers such as O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and Burn After Reading (2008) both starring George Clooney, were also top earners for the writer, producer, and directing pair. The comedies racked up $45.5 million and $60.4 million respectively. The Coen Brothers' lucky charm George Clooney didn't help their 2003 film Intolerable Cruelty (Catherine Zeta-Jones) with its box office numbers stalling at $35 million. The same can be said of Tom Hanks in The LadyKillers ($40 million).
Fargo also didn't fare well at the box office with an intake of $24.6 million but the brothers dominated the 1996- 97 award season with eight Oscar nominations and a win for Ethan and Joel for Original Screenplay. Joel's wife and actress Frances McDormand won Best Actress for her portrayal of the funny-sounding cop in Fargo. Joel Coen earned his first nomination as a director.
Passion projects A Serious Man (2009), The Miller's Crossing (1990), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Barton Fink (1991), and The Man Who Wasn't There (2001) all earned under $10 million.
Regardless of the box office numbers, the Coen Brothers are one of the most respected and admired film auteurs in Hollywood, and with their recent track record, they can get anything greenlighted in Hollywood.
For a complete list of their films and box office gross, see below.
True Grit (2010)
Domestic: $110,430,000 (as of January 10, 2011)
Worldwide: N/A
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Domestic Total Gross: $74,283,625
Worldwide: $171,627,166
Burn After Reading (2008)
Domestic Total Gross: $60,355,347
Worldwide: $163,720,069
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Domestic Total Gross: $45,512,588
Worldwide: $71,868,327
The Ladykillers (2004)
Domestic Total Gross: $39,799,191
Worldwide: $76,747,441
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Domestic Total Gross: $35,327,628
Worldwide: $120,217,409
Fargo (1996)
Domestic Total Gross: $24,611,975
Worldwide: $60,611,975
Raising Arizona (1987)
Domestic Total Gross: $22,847,564
Worldwide: $29,180,280
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Domestic Total Gross: $17,451,873
A Serious Man (2009)
Domestic Total Gross: $9,228,768
Worldwide: $31,430,334
The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
Domestic Total Gross: $7,504,257
Worldwide: $18,916,623
Barton Fink (1991)
Domestic Total Gross: $6,153,939
1990 Miller's Crossing
Domestic Total Gross: $5,080,409
1984 Blood Simple.
Domestic Total Gross: $3,851,855
1994 The Hudsucker Proxy
Domestic Total Gross: $2,816,518
