Big Business for the Weekend

Whether or not the weekend saw a box-office record--as early Sunday estimates suggested--business was big, with the top three movies in the Top 10 accounting for more than 60% of all the tickets sold. Counting all films that grossed more than $500,000--virtually all the business--$97.6 million in tickets were sold for Friday through Sunday, according to the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., whose formula had determined July 9-11, 1993, as the record weekend, when just under $100 million in tickets were sold. Other analysts, using different methods, are likely to report that a record was set--but barely.

Weekend Box Office

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “True Lies” $25.9 2,368 1 (20th Century Fox) $27.5 $10,925 2. “Forrest Gump” $24.1 2,024 2 (Paramount) $72.1 $11,979 3. “The Lion King” $16.9 2,624 5 (Walt Disney) $174.3 $6,435 4. “Angels in the Outfield” $8.9 1,894 1 (Walt Disney) $8.9 $4,708 5. “Speed “ $5.1 1,903 6 (20th Century Fox) $93.5 $2,682 6. “I Love Trouble” $3.4 1,633 3 (Disney/Touchstone) $23 $2,060 7. “Blown Away” $2.5 1,862 3 (MGM) $23.8 $1,360 8. “The Shadow” $2.47 1,671 3 (Universal) $24.7 $1,480 9. “Wolf” $2.1 1,752 5 (Columbia ) $59.4 $1,201 10. “The Flintstones” $1.4 1,298 8 (Universal) $119.5 $1,105

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.