Returns Are Good for Ford’s Latest Bid

He’s baaaaaack! And it took the role of the president to get him there. Harrison Ford reclaimed his hit opener status with Sony/Columbia Pictures’ “Air Force One,” which opened toan estimated weekend gross of $37.1 million.

Disney’s “George of the Jungle” remained in second place, at $13.2 million, and Columbia’s “Men in Black,” after three weeks at No. 1, finished third, with $12.6 million. Among the week’s other new films, Paramount’s “Good Burger” placed a respectable fifth, with a gross of $7.3 million.

“Air Force One” is not only Ford’s biggest opening ever but could wind up being the biggest non-holiday weekend opener of the year. It certainly represents a strong rebound for the onetime Han Solo and Indiana Jones, whose career has had a bumpy ride with back-to-back box-office duds in “Sabrina” and “The Devil’s Own.”

The three-day opening of “Air Force One,” in which Ford, as the president, must save his family from terrorists, hovered within reach of what the two others eventually grossed domestically: $53.7 million for “Sabrina” and $42.8 million for “Devil’s Own.” Ford’s last big hit was “Clear and Present Danger,” which grossed $122 million in 1994.

But this isn’t just the comeback summer for Ford, as Sony and its film companies, Columbia and TriStar, have experienced a complete flip-flop from last summer’s dry season. “Men in Black” has grossed $194.3 million in four weeks and should pass $200 million this week. TriStar’s “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” which came in eighth for the weekend with $4.5 million and crossed the $100-million barrier on Saturday, has grossed $103.1 million in six weeks.

Since the first of the year, Sony has grossed more than $800 million in box office, or more than double the amount of last year, said Jeff Blake, Sony’s distribution chief.

Further, the combined weekend box office of its three current hits was about $54.2 million, giving Sony more than 50% of the weekend take, noted John Krier, head of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

“Air Force One” also represents a significant comeback for independent production, since Beacon Communications co-produced and co-financed half of the $90-million film.

“It’s not just a great day for Beacon and our parent company, [Denver-based] Ascent Entertainment Group, but this is probably the biggest opening ever for an independent film, certainly because it’s Ford’s biggest. And it’s the biggest film to ever open in the second half of the summer,” said Armyan Bernstein, Beacon’s chairman.

The film has struck a chord with audiences because it “is about a man fighting for his family--he just happens to be the president,” Bernstein said.

Sony’s Blake likes the company Ford’s new film keeps.

“Clearly, this is a better opening than ‘The Fugitive,’ but that film was a fabulous success,” he said, referring to the 1993 hit starring Ford, which opened to $23.8 million. “Judging from our exit polls and the ‘Fugitive’ history, this gives us confidence ‘Air Force One’ will become a very big hit.”

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Paramount’s “Good Burger” may stand as the one of the few family movies that performed this summer, after the relative failures of “Buddy,” “A Simple Wish” and “Wild America” to find sizable audiences. “Good Burger,” a spinoff of a Nickelodeon TV sketch, opened to $7.3 million. It fared better than the children’s network’s first film spinoff, “Harriet the Spy,” a 1996 release that opened to $6.6 million.

“I think the improved margin is indicative of Nickelodeon’s deeper penetration into its market,” said Wayne Lewellen, head of Paramount distribution. “And I think this film did better than the other family films this summer because it had the advantage of built-in awareness since it was based on a TV show kids know.”

Two other films targeted to younger audiences, Disney’s “George of the Jungle” and “Hercules,” remained in the Top 10, the second-place finish of “George” bringing its cumulative gross to $48.8 million in two weeks, and “Hercules,” in ninth at $2.9 million, reaching $83.2 million after seven weeks.

In the rest of the Top 10:

Warner Bros.’ “Contact” placed fourth, with $9.5 million (and a gross of $64.8 million in three weeks); Disney/Touchstone’s “Nothing to Lose,” sixth, with $6.7 million ($24.3 million in two weeks); Paramount’s “Face/Off,” seventh, $5.6 million ($96 million in five weeks); and Dimension’s “Operation Condor,” 10th, $1.6 million ($8.2 million in two weeks).

All weekend grosses are estimates; final numbers will be released today.