WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : ‘Pretty Woman’ Takes Top Spot

Touchstone Pictures’ “Pretty Woman” came through with a fairy-tale finish in its first weekend at the box office. Ticket sales for the Pygmalion-like tale in which a corporate mogul transforms a Hollywood hooker into a lady were $11.2 million, marking an impressive return for Richard Gere, whose career had been fading, and solidifying the star potential of Julia Roberts. “The Hunt for Red October” continued to be pretty impressive, taking the No. 2 spot with ticket sales of $9.1 million. Its four-week grosses are now $67.2 million. Among limited releases, Fox’s “Nuns on the Run,” a comedy about a pair of cons in drag, continues as a sleeper. With ticket sales of $839,505 at 107 screens--for a high $7,846 per screen--it has grossed $1.7 million in just two weeks.

* Cannon Pictures’ “The Fourth War,” a Cold War thriller directed by John Frankenheimer, was frozen out of the week’s take. Ticket sales were only $776,449 on 1,005 screens--for a chilly per-screen average of $772.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1.”Pretty Woman” $11.2 1,325 1 (Touchstone) $11.2 $8,514 2.”The Hunt for Red October” $9.1 1,817 4 (Paramount) $67.2 $5,015 3.”Joe Versus the Volcano” $5.2 1,795 3 (Warner Bros.) $14.5 $2,896 4.”Driving Miss Daisy” $3.6 1,652 15 (Warner Bros.) $73.1 $2,179 5.”House Party” $3.2 700 3 (New Line) $13.3 $4,572 *”The Fourth War” $776,449 1,005 1 (Cannon) $776,440 $772

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.