WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : Laughing All the Way

The novel and combustible pairing of Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger continued to delight movie audiences last weekend, as “Twins” once again finished on top of the national box office heap. But comedies in general are striking box office gold, with Paramount’s “Naked Gun” and “Scrooged” racking up more than $10 million between them just last weekend (and almost $70 million total so far). A bit off the comedy pace, however, was Orion’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” featuring Steve Martin and Michael Caine.

* “Torch Song Trilogy,” the screen version of Harvey Fierstein’s popular Broadway play about gay loves, tragedies and life styles, did quite well in its initial opening week--almost $12,000 per screen--in big cities.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average in Release 1. “Twins” $7.8 1,449 2 (Universal) $22.1 $5,370 2. “Rain Man” $7.0 1,248 1 (MGM/UA) $7.0 $5,614 3. “The Naked Gun” $5.6 1,937 3 (Paramount) $25.8 $2,894 4. “Scrooged” $4.6 1,797 4 (Paramount) $41.9 $2,538 5. “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” $3.8 1,466 1 (Orion) $3.8 $2,620 * “Torch Song Trilogy” $.071 6 1 (New Line) $.098 $11,837

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.