‘Star Trek IV’ Gets a Head Start on Yule Competition

The key holiday box-office season blasts off with the much anticipated launch of Paramount Pictures’ “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.” As a rule, sequels tend to diminish in ticket sales, but the advance word is so strong on this picture that insiders speculate this one may outdo all its predecessors in its opening weekend.

That won’t be an easy task. “Star Trek III” took in a whopping $16.7 million in its first weekend. By opening over Thanksgiving weekend Paramount gives the latest chapter in this ongoing saga a turbo-charged head start over the other Christmas competition.

Meanwhile, Paramount continues to hold a lock on the No. 1 spot at the box office with “Crocodile Dundee” which took in $84 million in its first 61 days. There can be little doubt now that actor-spokesman Paul Hogan’s U.S. movie debut will surpass the $100-million mark.

Between “Crocodile Dundee,” “Star Trek IV” and the upcoming “The Golden Child,” Paramount’s Christmas stocking may be overstuffed.

On other box-office fronts, Universal Pictures’ animated “An American Tail,” presented by Steven Spielberg, opened strongly, taking in $5.2 million at 1,246 theaters its first weekend. Buena Vista’s “Song of the South,” the re-released Disney mix of live action and animation, opened solidly, taking in $4.2 million in its first weekend at 1,505 theaters.

In the slow but steady category, Columbia’s “Stand By Me” has quietly surpassed the $43-million mark in its first 90 days and should easily top the $50-million milestone during the Christmas season. Tri-Star’s “Peggy Sue Got Married,” which has already taken in $32 million, had the smallest dropoff (only 11%) of any of the leading films last weekend. According to Stephen Randall, executive vice president of marketing for the studio, the picture is “holding extremely well.”