Video Rental Charts : ‘When Harry Met Sally . . .’ Topples ‘Batman’

All that terrific rental business “When Harry Met Sally . . .” did during the Christmas holidays is finally showing up on the Billboard chart. This romantic comedy, which took in more than $92 million in theaters, has really been the No. 1 rental since it came out a few weeks ago. It debuted at No. 9 last week, but this week it’s at the top of the chart. After a long run as champ, “Batman” slipped to No. 4. With the competition from all the hot newcomers, the Bill Murray twosome--”Ghostbusters II” (No. 2) and “Scrooged” (No. 3)--should begin to fade in the next week or two. Other newcomers doing good rental business are the Sly Stallone vehicle “Lock Up” (No. 12), “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier” (No. 8), “Nightmare on Elm Street 5” (No. 13) and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (No. 15).

* “Great Balls of Fire”--with Dennis Quaid playing Jerry Lee Lewis--was a big disappointment in theaters. One thing that killed it at the box office was its failure to dig deep enough into all the juicy dirt about the Killer. But there’s enough curiosity about the movie--and enough Quaid fanatics--to make it a big rental hit. It’s a lofty No. 9 after two weeks on the rental chart.

VIDEO RENTAL CHARTS

Ranking Weeks Ranking 2 Weeks on Rental Top Rentals Last Week Ago Chart 1. “When Harry Met Sally ...” (Nelson) 9 ... 2 2. “Ghostbusters II” (RCA/Columbia) 2 2 6 3. “Scrooged” (Paramount) 3 3 8 4. “Batman” (Warner) 1 -1 7 5. “Road House” (MGM/UA) 7 37 3 * “Great Balls of Fire” (Orion) 16 ... 2