Kid Comedies Hit Top Spots at Box Office

Two kid comedies--led by 20th Century Fox’s hit “Home Alone”--took the No. 1 and 2 spots at the country’s box office while “The Godfather Part III” slipped to third place over the weekend.

With weekend ticket sales of $12.6 million, “Home Alone” has grossed $169 million after just eight weeks. In release on 2,173 screens, it has a sturdy per-screen average of $5,811.

In its third week of release, the kids ‘n’ cops comedy-drama--Universal Picture’s “Kindergarten Cop” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger--climbed to second place with ticket sales of about $9.4 million on 1,929 screens for an average of $4,900.

Paramount Pictures’ “The Godfather Part III”--which last week beat “Kindergarten Cop”--dropped to third. The long-awaited sequel to Francis Coppola’s sprawling gangster saga had ticket sales of about $8.3 million--a hefty 38% drop over the previous week. In release on 1,922 screens, for a per-screen average of $4,314, it has grossed $44.7 million.

Orion Pictures’ “Dances With Wolves”--directed by and starring Kevin Costner--was fourth with ticket sales of about $7.3 million. Released on 1,282 screens, the Western epic had a per-screen average of $5,717--a high figure considering the film runs three hours and is in its ninth week of release.

Fox’s off-beat fantasy “Edward Scissorhands” was ranked fifth. It earned $5.1 million on 1,267 screens, for an average of $4,026.

Rounding out the week’s top 10, in estimated figures:

“Look Who’s Talking Too” (Tri-Star Pictures), sixth place, with $4.2 million; “Misery” (Columbia Pictures), seventh, $3.9 million; “Mermaids” (Orion), eighth, $3.7 million; “Three Men & a Little Lady” (Buena Vista), ninth, $3.5 million; “The Russia House” (MGM/UA), 10th, $3 million.