Weekend Box Office : ‘The Fugitive’ Continues Fast Run

“The Fugitive” continued to flee the pack of movies with another giant weekend gross of $22.4 million--well ahead of the nearest competitor. After a spectacular first weekend, the suspense film’s second weekend showed only a 9% slip, demonstrating strong word of mouth.

Second place went to another in the gruesome Jason series, “Jason Goes to Hell,” which grossed (in both senses of the word) $7.5 million. Among other new films, “The Secret Garden” and “Heart and Souls” drew modest numbers, but “Meteor Man,” which opened poorly a week ago, took a 51% plunge and streaked off the chart.

* “Searching for Bobby Fisher” mated a respectable $1.1 million in its limited opening move.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1.”The Fugitive” $22.4 2,364 2 (Warner Bros.) $60 $9,492 2.”Jason Goes to Hell” $7.5 1,355 1 (New Line) $7.5 $5,574 3.”Rising Sun” $6.1 1,722 3 (20th Century Fox) $41 $3,560 4.”The Secret Garden” $4.6 1,319 1 (Warner Bros.) $4.6 $3,507 5.”In the Line of Fire” $4.5 1,808 6 (Columbia) $84.2 $2,467 6.”Heart and Souls” $4.32 1,275 1 (Universal) $4.3 $3,390 7.”Jurassic Park” $4.3 1,792 10 (Universal) $299.6 $2,400 8.”Free Willy” $4 1,820 5 (Warner Bros.) $53 $2,202 9.”The Firm” $3.4 1,601 7 (Paramount) $139.2 $2,146 10.”Robin Hood: Men in Tights” $3.3 1,407 3 (20th Century Fox) $24.3 $2,352 * “Searching for Bobby Fisher” $1.1 219 1 (Paramount) $1.5 $5,120

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.