MOVIES - Dec. 8, 1988

Yet another missive from our Life Imitates Art folder: The sleeper-like success of “Mystic Pizza”--a movie about three girlfriends who work in a pizza parlor in Mystic, Conn.--has turned the real Mystic Pizza into one of the town’s top attractions. Mystic Pizza owners Steve and Fofi Zelepos say they have lines outside their parlor and are even entertaining a franchising proposal put forward by a group of New York businessmen in the wake of the opening of the movie, which has grossed more than $10 million at the box office thus far. The Zelepos family does plan to expand, opening a branch--Mystic Pizza the Second, naturally--in nearby North Stonington. It will be operated by the couple’s 23-year-old son, John.