‘Bird’ Lands $16 Million at Box Office

The summer movie-going season got a rousing kickoff with the startling weekend performance of Universal Pictures’ “Bird on a Wire.” Despite largely negative reviews, the Mel Gibson-Goldie Hawn romantic comedy earned about $16 million.

Orion Pictures’ comedy, “Cadillac Man”--starring Robin Williams as a fast-talking car salesman--also overcame a slew of critical thumbs-downs to snare the No. 2 spot, with ticket sales of about $6.9 million.

The performance of “Bird on a Wire” and “Cadillac Man”--the inaugural entries in the summer movie sweepstakes--would seem to bode well for the season’s movie onslaught, which continues with the Memorial Day release of Universal Pictures’ “Back to the Future III.”

Meanwhile, Touchstone Pictures’ “Pretty Woman” continues to show great legs. With ticket sales of about $6.3 million, the romantic comedy starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts garnered third place.

It has now grossed over $107 million.

With receipts of about $2.9 million, New Line Cinema’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” was ranked fourth. It has now earned over $113 million.

Fifth place went to Paramount Pictures’ horror anthology, “Tales From the Darkside, the Movie,” which earned about $2 million.