WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

A sure sign that the summer--featuring sure-fire blockbusters like “Beverly Hills Cop II”--is giving way to fall, a season marked by smaller-scale, more carefully marketed films, is the past weekend’s box-office take, featuring two unheralded, smallish pictures that did very well with fall audiences. Despite a hands-off, no-screening attitude on the part of its distributor, Universal, Cheech Marin’s “Born in East L.A.” did very strong business its first weekend. So did “Dirty Dancing,” whose excellent showing was paced by praise from some critics and a last-minute publicity push by the movie’s distributor, Vestron, a relative theatrical newcomer based in Connecticut.

* It may have opened in only about half the theaters originally planned, but Columbia may have a sleeper hit on its hands with “The Big Easy.” The picture--which has received highly favorable reviews from coast to coast--moved from one releasing entity to another, finally finding a home with Columbia. The company said Monday the picture will play in more theaters next weekend.

Figures courtesy of Exhibitor Relations Co.

Weekend Screens/ Weeks Movie gross/ Average in (Studio) Total release (millions) 1. Stakeout $5.6 1,102 3 (Buena Vista) $24.1 $5,045 2. Born in East L.A. $4.4 1,112 1 (Universal) $4.4 $3,920 3. Can’t Buy Me Love $4.0 1,283 2 (Buena Vista) $12.3 $3,150 4. Dirty Dancing $4.0 1,000 1 (Vestron) $4.0 $4,000 5. No Way Out $3.8 817 2 (Orion) $10.2 $4,651 * The Big Easy $0.35 32 1 (Columbia) $0.35 $11,039