I just saw this movie for the first time and enjoyed it. I had kind of heard of it before, but it came out before I was born. Was it popular when it first came out in 1987? What was its box office performance like? Did it do okay or did it flop? Were people talking about it a lot, or did people seem not that interested? Anybody remember?
shareIt was a decent hit.
One of my older brothers was really into this movie when it was first released on video.
I'll echo what was written above. It did well theatrically, and was a decent renter. The use of the Beatles song (and the name of course) seemed to help it. It was Patrick Dempsey's commercial high point during his 'teen' days, and seemed to sit well with the target audience during the brief era of Debbie Gibson and Tiffany (well, it feels brief now).
shareand seemed to sit well with the target audience during the brief era of Debbie Gibson and Tiffany
Haha, really? This movie feels a lot more worthwhile than a typical teenybopper cash in.
Having said that, it was also the era of Motley Crue and Guns 'n' Roses which many teens were into
Yeah, I would think it would've been a lot of different stuff like that and not just pop. The movie's soundtrack also has a good mix.
Sure. I was only a couple of years old when this movie came out so I have no idea what the pop culture reaction to it was haha, but that era of the mid to late 80s does interest me a lot. I can imagine this would be popular with the teenyboppers and all that. That's always the great thing about movies that are made well, that they become "crossover" and can appeal to various people, genders and ages while still holding a certain amount of worth and quality that lasts.
Buckle up back there, we're going into... hyperactive
I was just a kid back in the 80s (born in 81), but I do remember some things about the 80s and will take deb, and tiff over justin bieber, and kei$ha any day of the week.
share"It's just chance that the film coincided with that teenybopp stuff, and that they would like it as well, but I don't think Can't But Me Love reflects that specific kind of culture. The character of Cindy Mancini reminded me more of Paula Abdul and Belinda Carlisle haha. Her airhead friends were like Tiffany and Debbie, though. "
There wasn't any difference at all between the crowd who listened to Paula Abdul and Belinda Carlisle and the one who listened to Tiffany and Debbie Gibson. They were the exact same crowd. Most people listened to all of them unless they were pure head-bangers (of course there were a decent amount of those around). Where I was I'd say it was probably 65-70% the former and 25%-30 the latter. If you looked at kids in say the top 15% of the high school class the ratio probably went more like 90% to 10%. The burnouts were virtually all head-bangers although a few listened to pop in addition. From what I recall I don't think this film showed the head-banger or burnout culture kids much, if at all.
Most girls back then I'd say styled like Cindy's friends regardless of what crowd they were in (although a few of the head-bangers would go more purely glam rock/hair bands hair styles).
Cindy was very 80s girls too although her hair in the movie wasn't the most common totally ultra big hair look like that of her friends in the movie and she seemed to dress up a bit more fancily for school than most would. But she certainly came across more or less totally mainstream 80s overall.
OTOH if you want to know what virtual no 80s girls dressed, talked and acted like, look at Em in Adventureland. I don't know how on Earth some movie critics called her character the perfect 80s portrayal, nailing it perfectly without going over the top. She seemed like she was straight out of maybe 1980 combined with some hipster the year the film was made. Certainly she nothing remotely like any mainstream girl in 1987.
What is the breast debate?
shareIt was a pretty good hit. There were over 200 movies released in 1987 and Can't Buy Me love was in the top 40 in ticket sales/money. It finished around the same spot as Adventures in Babysitting, The Princess Bride and The Lost Boys. While not one of the top movies, it was a hit movie that made Touchstone/Disney millions.
shareI was in high school when this film was released and I don't remember it being a huge hit. I think it did okay numbers at the box-office and certainly nothing to scream about. However, when it was released on home video it did really well.
shareI don't remember any of my friends watching this movie at the theater. I remember watching part of this movie at my best friend's house on cable in the late 80's. My parents bought a used VHS copy at the local video store. I watched it many, many times. And like most guys, fell in love with Amanda Peterson. I bought the DVD about 6-7 years ago. I am still stunned by the news of her passing. She was only 6 months older than me.
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I think it did okay numbers at the box-office and certainly nothing to scream about. However, when it was released on home video it did really well.
It was very popular.I remember it selling out alot when it first opened at the local theater near me.
shareI remember when it came out. It came and went with moderate reviews.
But its gained a new life on cable and home video.
I remember it at the time because of the beatles song.
It was a modest box office hit, but it was shown all the time on pay cable channels. I believe it was shown on HBO, not sure about the others.
Back then, there were far fewer basic cable stations than today, so if you were a movie fan you watched HBO or Showtime all the time. I am sure most young people in America with access to premium cable must have seen CBML.
Also, VHS had become huge by 1988, so this must have done great as a rental.
I know everyone I saw it with in the 80s really enjoyed it.
They used to show it on free channels all the time in the 90s too. I forget what channel. Not sure if it was a national like ABC or something more local like WPIX.
It made 31 million in 1986... Movies from that year generally adjust at around 125% for inflation so it made around 70 million in 2015 dollars... I went to see it three times when it came out... Loved the performances of Patrick and Amanda.
If you haven't made someone smile today, why not?
70mil is really quite solid for a film like this so yeah it did pretty well although it didn't get quite the attention of say Dirty Dancing.
It did seem like it got even bigger after it came out on VHS and started getting shown on TV a lot though.