‘Fourth of July’ Starts Year Off With a Bang

The 1990 box-office season broke out of the gate with a red-white-and-blue bang, as Universal’s “Born on the Fourth of July,” the story of disabled Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic, opened wide on 1,310 screens for $11 million, an average of $8,415 per screen. Walt Disney Studios says that “The Little Mermaid,” which finished No. 5 with a weekend take of $4.6 million, became the highest-grossing animated film by any studio--excluding reissues. The musical fairy tale has grossed a total of $56.1 million, topping Disney’s “Oliver and Company” ($53.8 million). Overall, the numbers for the first box-office weekend of 1990 were stronger than the same weekend last year, which went on to become a record-breaking season in Hollywood.

* Among the Oscar-caliber, limited-release films in theaters--including “Driving Miss Daisy,” “Enemies, A Love Story” and “Music Box”--Tri-Star’s Civil War epic “Glory” performed the best, grossing $170,376 on 8 screens for a per-screen average of $21,297.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Born on the Fourth $11 1,310 3 of July”(Universal) $12.1 $8,415 2. “The War of the Roses” $7 1,525 5 (Fox) $53.4 $4,595 3. “Tango & Cash” $6.6 1,556 3 (Warner Bros.) $31.1 $4,258 4. “Always” $4.6 1,124 3 (Universal) $20.6 $4,105 5. “The Little Mermaid” $4.6 1,521 8 (Disney) $56.1 $3,014 *. “Glory” $170,376 8 4 (Tri-Star) $625,157 $21,297

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.