‘48 HRS. II’ Box-Office Take Disputed

So, it’s come to this. In a statement accompanying the release of box office grosses for the opening weekend of “Another 48 HRS.,” Paramount Pictures said the film’s $19.4-million take represented “the second biggest opening, ever, for an Eddie Murphy movie.”

Well, it is summer and hyperbole is in the air. Last week, Tri-Star’s “Total Recall” set the 1990 (so far) opening weekend box office record with $25.5 million, and two weeks before that, “Bird on a Wire” gave Universal Pictures its biggest three-day opening “ever” with $15.3 million.

What kind of a weekend was it really for “Another 48 HRS”? Some industry analysts were surprised at the $19.4-million figure announced by Paramount. They said projections from Friday and Saturday receipts suggested the weekend total would be closer to $17 million. Paramount co-president Barry London said the final figure was higher than exhibitor estimates because the film actually opened on more screens than originally scheduled.

London said the studio shipped 2,301 prints to theaters, but many multiplexes ended up “bicycling” their prints, using the same print to show the film on more than one screen at the same time.

Still, the per screen average of $8,462 on “Another 48 HRS.” was considerably less than the $12,395 numbers posted last week by “Total Recall.” The Arnold Schwarzenegger science-fiction adventure movie saw its business drop more than 35% over its second weekend, but still came in a strong second with $15 million at 2,076 theaters.

Business for “Back to the Future III” continued to decline, after a strong opening over the long Memorial Day weekend. The time-travel adventure took in $7.6 million, running its cumulative grosses to $49.5 million.

“Bird on a Wire” finished fourth to give Universal two of the top five films in the market. The Mel Gibson-Goldie Hawn romantic comedy had ticket sales of $4.8 million. It has grossed $49.7 million after four weeks.

In fifth place, in its 12th week of release, is the still-formidable “Pretty Woman.” Touchstone Pictures’ romantic comedy earned another $4.4 million--bringing its total to $133.3 million.

“Another 48 HRS.,” a sequel to the 1982 buddy-cop film that made Eddie Murphy a movie star, reunites Murphy with co-star Nick Nolte and director Walter Hill. But unlike the original, which was liked by many critics, the sequel was panned by most major critics, marking yet another critical disappointment for Murphy.

Still, Paramount executives were putting a happy face on the opening weekend, pointing up that the film’s grosses were second only among Murphy films to the $33-million 1987 Memorial Day Weekend opening of “Beverly Hills Cop II.” Murphy’s last film, “Harlem Nights,” which he starred in and directed, did $16 million over its three-day opening last November. The movie went on to gross $60 million.