Oscar Winners Cash In

“Rain Man” is well on its way toward fulfilling predictions that the winner of the best picture Oscar can count on a $20-million windfall at the box office. During the first weekend after the Academy Awards, receipts for “Rain Man,” winner of four Oscars, jumped 84% to $5.5 million at 1,581 theaters, an average of $3,502 per screen. Other Oscar winners also enjoyed a boost at the box office over the weekend: Sales for “Dangerous Liaisons,” with total receipts now at $27.5 million, rose 24%; “Working Girl,” at $58 million, jumped 40%; “Accidental Tourist,” at $30.2 million, increased 54%; and “Mississippi Burning,” now at $32 million, jumped 55%.

*”Heathers,” first-time director Michael Lehmann’s controversial look at teenage social structures, enjoyed a healthy opening, grossing $177,247 in limited release at 35 theaters, a per-screen average of $5,064.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average in Release 1.”Rain Man” $5.5 1,581 16 (MGM/UA) $142.3 $3,502 2.”Fletch Lives” $4.2 1,511 3 (Universal) $23.5 $2,380 3.”The Rescuers” $2.8 1,482 3 (Disney) $13.9 $1,920 4.”Lean On Me” $2.3 1,071 5 (Warner) $23.7 $2.138 5.”Bill and Ted’s Adventure” $2.0 1,313 7 (Orion) $31.7 $1,503 *”Heathers” $.177 35 1 (New World) $.177 $5,064

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.