WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Danny De Vito’s “Throw Momma From the Train” chugged into first place its opening weekend, grossing $7.3 million--far less than now-second-place “Three Men and a Baby” did each of its first two weeks in release--and in fewer theaters. “Three” was a close second, grossing just $300,000 less than “Train.” Oliver Stone’s “Wall St.” opened bullishly with $4.1 million in 730 theaters. Paramount Pictures remains the undisputed leader of the box-office pack, with “Fatal Attraction” still hanging in ($117 million and counting) and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” pulling in more than $20 million in grosses in its third week of release.

* Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun” was no doubt playing to packed houses this weekend. The box office gross may only have been $1.3 million, but the film’s per screen average--a closely watched gauge of a film’s success--was $5,842. Whether or not that kind of success can carry over into wider release remains to be seen.

Figures courtesy of Exhibitor Relations Co.

Weekend Screens Weeks Movie gross/ Average in (Studio) Total release (millions) 1. Throw Momma from the Train $7.3 1,470 1 (Orion) $7.3 $4,978 2. Three Men and a Baby $7.0 1,106 3 (Buena Vista) $34.6 $6,935 3. Wall Street $4.1 730 1 (20th Century Fox) $4.1 $5,623 4. Planes, Trains & Automobiles $3.7 1,578 3 (Paramount) $22.2 $2,343 5. Fatal Attraction $2.0 1,340 13 (Paramount) $117.2 $1,505 * Empire of the Sun $1.3 225 1 (Warner Bros.) $1.3 $5,842