WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : ‘Talking’ Tops Box-Office Race, Again

The talk of the town is Tri-Star’s “Look Who’s Talking,” which grossed a fall record $14.1 million after expanding to 1,547 screens. The romantic comedy starring John Travolta, Kirstie Alley and Bruce Willis’ voice jumped 16% and dominated the weekend with almost 37% of the Top 10 box office share. Although Warner Bros. did not screen “Next of Kin” for critics, the action film finished No. 2, thanks in part to the clinging star power of Patrick Swayze, this time around as a Chicago cop with bad country habits. The film took in $4.8 million on 1,358 screens. But theater audiences dropped the bomb on screen superstar Paul Newman and director Roland Joffe (“The Killing Fields”) in Paramount’s “Fat Man and Little Boy.” The epic retelling of the Manhattan Project and the making of the atomic bomb failed to make it among the Top Five films of the weekend and opened for only $1.4 million on 843 screens, an average of $1,752 per screen.

* Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors” continues to be a hit with critics and theater audiences. The Orion film, starring an ensemble cast that resembles a Who’s Who of serious Hollywood actors, grossed $925,463 on 68 screens--up slightly since its opening last week--for a smashing per-screen average of $13,609.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average in Release 1.”Look Who’s Talking” $14.1 1,547 2 (Tri-Star) $30.1 $9,145 2.”Next of Kin” $4.8 1,358 1 (Warner Bros.) $4.8 $3,539 3.”Sea of Love” $2.9 1,419 6 (Universal) $46.3 $2,080 4.”Black Rain” $2.8 1,615 5 (Paramount) $36.4 $1,761 5.”Gross Anatomy” $2.8 853 1 (Touchstone) $2.8 $3,318 *”Crimes and Misdemeanors” $925,463 68 2 (Orion) $2.2 $13,609