WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Monday’s Columbus Day holiday hindered a full accounting of Hollywood’s weekend box-office business, so figures published today are estimates based on limited reports from studios and independent sources. No cumulative grosses were available.

Limited figures available indicated that Paramount’s “Fatal Attraction” would keep the top spot locked up and that Fox’s “Princess Bride” was confounding the industry naysayers--who said the comedy-fantasy couldn’t be marketed successfully. It apparently did well in its first weekend of nationwide release. Also impressive was the debut of United Artists’ account of yuppie child-rearing, “Baby Boom.” The film, in a limited release, did an estimated $1.2 million on only 195 screens. (It goes wider--to about 800 screens--Oct. 28, then wider still in November.)

* “Dirty Dancing” is continuing to hold its own at the box office, two months after its opening. Obviously there remains a sizable audience for musical fantasy; equally telling is the exhibitors’ willingness to stick with the film when so much other product is available. Weekend Screens/ Weeks Movie gross/ Average in (Studio) Total release (millions) 1. Fatal Attraction $9.4 1,321 4 (Paramount) n/a $7,100 2. Like Father, Like Son $5.6 1,267 2 (Tri-Star) n/a $4,400 3. The Princess Bride $4.1 623 3 (20th Century Fox) n/a $6,600 4. Someone to Watch Over Me $2.6 893 1 (Columbia) n/a $3,000 5. Surrender $2.1 1,067 1 (Warner Bros.) n/a $2,000 * Dirty Dancing $1.9 990 8 (Vestron) n/a $1,900