‘CROCODILE DUNDEE’ MAINTAINS ITS GRIP

On the box office front this week, “Crocodile Dundee” continues to force the competition down under. In its third weekend “Dundee” took in $10.6 million at 1,378 theaters. The picture has grossed an astonishing $33.7 million in its first 19 days of wide release.

Director Francis Coppola is back, this time delivering on time, under budget and headed for profit. In its first five days, “Peggy Sue Got Married” has grossed $7.3 million at just 865 theaters for a per-screen average of $7,000 figures that thrilled Tri-Star Pictures executives. “We’re very excited about the numbers,” says Stephen Randall, executive vice president of marketing.

The best news about “Peggy Sue,” says Randall, is that the picture has been playing to a much broader audience than expected. Exit surveys from last weekend showed that 28% of the audience attending was under 21 and 45% were 22 to 34.

Tri-Star expects “Peggy Sue” to hold steady over the weekend although overall comparisons will be down since last weekend’s numbers included a holiday Monday.

“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” also got off to a better than anticipated start. Whoopi Goldberg may indeed have more star power than handicappers thought. In its first five days, “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” took in $6.5 million at 1,080 theaters for a per-screen average of $6,000.

Fox executives were happy with exit polling that showed 78% said they would “definitely recommend” the picture to friends.