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Horror films may not often receive much respect, critically speaking. For any reason, they are often treated as a smaller form of entertainment. It is just the rarest of rare offers for genre that can continue to be accepted both critical and commercially, with "Exits" to Jordandoran Chicken serves as a shiny example of a relatively recent time. However, it is wider. However, one indisputable truth is that these films are a reliable spine for Hollywood studios, making constant profits against relatively low investment. Good movies, bad movies, often don't matter.

Hardcore horror fans will tell you that the number of bad films far exceeds the good in every year. It is about searching that diamond in rough. Therefore, from time to time, the genre image that the critical community has denied can still be able to break through and commit money. Such was the case in 2005, when "Hide and Search", a little remembered thriller starring Robert de Niro and a young nague and the name of Dakota Fanning, managed to make a direct bank before disappearing in relative ambiguity. It is the relics of a long time ago.

In the stories this week of the box office, we look back at "Hide and Search" in honor of its 20th anniversary. Go overwhelming how it happened, what the landscape of moviegoing at the time looked like, how its Starswells elevated the actions, which happened when the film hit theaters, which happened after its publication and what lessons we can learn from it all these years later. Let's dig, right?

The film focuses on psychologist David Kalaway (Robert de Niro), who is recovering after his wife (Amy Irving) takes his life. Asked for a new beginning, he decided to take his daughter Emily (Dakota Fanning) from Newoufor to a house in the country. Emily hit by sadness struggles to make new friends, except for an imaginary palm named Charlie. Or is he he? Things are distorted and deadly as a series of unfortunate events take place before a perverted conclusion is reached.

Fox collected the script for "Hide and Search" in November 2002 and began developing it for the big screen. He is written by ARI Scholosberg, serving as his first credit for writing features. Maybe telling, he has only one more credit credit to his name. Initially, Albert Hughes, known for his collaborations with his brother Alen Hughes, as "from hell", had to make his solo directorial debut, but left the project in late 2003 over "creative differences" after Diversity. Hughes will later continue to direct the movie "Alpha" in 2018, "Alpha", as well as episodes of spin-off series "Johnon Wick" "Continental".

Polon Poleon ("Swimfan") stepped on the plate after Hughes left. Meanwhile, De Niro was attached to the Starwar in the lead role and, despite the change of directors, remained on the ship as he received a multimillion -dollar payment for his services. It is not only that De Niro was one of the most respected actors who worked at the time (and probably still), with classics like "Godfather Part II" and "Goodfelas" on his name, but he was very banking at this point as time Well.

This was the era of De Niro trying to play against the type. Worked quite well. He came out of the 2000s "Meet Parents", which was a hit hit with $ 330 million worldwide, Supporting the way for an even greater sequel, "Meet Fockers" in 2004. Some of his other hits in this era include "Analyze this" and "Men of Honor". Now, he went to a mainstream horror movie, which was another unexpected turnaround.

It was undoubtedly due to De Niro's involvement that "the $ 5 script is receiving $ 50 million in treatment", as Diversity Put it in 2005 before the release of the film. It also helped secure a list of A-list around De Niro, including Famke Hansen ("X-Men"), Elizabeth Shue ("leaving Las Vegas"), and most importantly, Dakota Fanning. The young actress has been doing ahead of Hollywood from a very early age, Holding against huge movie stars like Denzel Washington in "Man of Fire" And John Penn in "I'm Sam".

Despite having her 10th birthday on the "Hide and Search" set, Janing earned a great reputation, the one who grew up with every movie. "I just forgot he was a kid," Jansen said IGN the fanning in 2005. “There is nothing for her.

This is that Rising Star of Fanning, along with the beloved veterinarian as De Niro, who raised it. The $ 5 script in something the audience actually wanted to see. In the same interview, Janing showed how much pre-curved was for her age, eloquently setting why she wanted to be in this movie:

"I read the whole thing and I just wanted to do it so bad, the different character that I never played before, so different from myself. All the other characters I have played, I could always find something in them what is what is Like me, but with this, there is nothing like me ... I was filming it, it was so intense and I had to maintain all these emotions through the sequences.

Fox has released "Hide and Search" with multiple endings; One for us the audience and the one seen elsewhere in the world. Overall, five film endings have been recorded, all eventually made DVD. The basic film remained the same, but the end of the story experienced the story differently, providing a slightly different fate for Emily. A big turn is that David is actually Charlie because he has developed dissociative disorder. When the film has many endings, it is not often a great sign for the film itself.

To that end, "Hide and Search" was not accepted by critics of the day, easy to put. "Hide and look" does not deserve to be found, "he said Lantern At that time. However, it did not matter, as an effective trailer along with its stars spoke the interest of the film. It also doesn't hurt that the only direct competition when opened was Lionsgate "Alone in the Dark," is considered one of the worst video game movies ever made.

"Hide and Look" opened on January 28, 2005, debuting over the box office at home, withdrawing $ 21.9 million. Despite the $ 25 million reported budget, it was Fox's victory. When Bugiman and the Date of the Wedding opened next weekend, De Niro's thriller fell hard, falling nearly 60% with $ 8.9 million transportation. Will Smith's huge hit Hitch additionally comes in mid -February. It was hard to matter.

The film ended its run with $ 51.1 million home to leave with a strong $ 76.2 million internationally for a total total of $ 127.3 million worldwide. These returns every studio would kill for today. It will almost certainly get a sequel. In 2005 however? Today it was only here, there is no significant cow of cash tomorrow.

In 2005, the DVD market was far healthier than it is today. We were still years old since Netflix's immediate streaming becomes something. As a result, this film continued to enjoy a beautiful second life of home video, strengthening Fox's profits. However, two decades later, it's hard to find Blu-Ray, not at the moment on any major, paid streaming service, and is currently staying at the free Tubi Tubi. Even once-glittering horror films, such as Steven King's "Change of Cemetery" They were given editions of Blu-ray and 4K of boutique labels.

"Hide and look for", on the other hand, no such release is allowed. It's hard to ever discuss, it seems. With righteousness, several retrospective pieces have been published in the years, and some spectators have been pushed against his reputation. Reddit user tblroxdanhl4 He called it a "fantastic movie" on R/Movies Subreddit a few years ago. But outside the internet forums and several journalists. At best, someone who saw it at the time can say something about the effect of "Oh, yes, remember that movie".

But that was the film business in the early 2000s. Streaming has not yet changed the viewing habits. People were still going to the movies because they wanted to see a movie. The film can only be a movie - something that someone made a day that ends in Y after grabbing dinner. This was also when Fox was still posting about a dozen films a year in cinema before Disney acquired the studio in 2019 and significantly reduced that number. The trip of this film is really representative of what the business looked like.

Without even taking into account inflation, very few horror films in 2024 managed to make as much money as rarely discussed, a critically pan a thriller. It felt like a big deal and a cultural event when Longles reached $ 100 million. 20 years ago, a horror film with several big stars can sell the same number of tickets with regularity. It was a business as usual, rather than a great deal.

Looking at "hide and look for" now, it's a sobering reminder of how much the business has changed. For people such as I who nurture the theater experience, I miss the days when more of my peers just decided to go to see a movie about hell. Now, it feels like something becoming a real event for most people to bother. It's unfortunate. In 2025

In an era of premium VOD and big new films like The Fall Guy Available Home A few weeks after hitting theatersWe probably never return to this place. In a way, that's good. I do not have to suggest that the January film with bad reviews should make a bank. What I suggest is that in the world since 2005, more films have had a chance to advance. More directors got the chance to try things. It was not a "franchise or bust".

It's missed. But the fight against the future is how to fight the tide. It is best to accept what it is and to work to improve the future as best as possible, rather than wishing the past can come back.