‘Die Hard 2’ Has Fourth-Biggest Opening Ever

It was a firecracker of an opening for 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard 2.”

With weekend ticket sales of approximately $22.2 million on 2,507 screens, and a 5 1/2-day total of about $36 million, the costly action-adventure film, reportedly budgeted at nearly $70 million, enjoyed the summer’s most explosive opening--and became Hollywood’s fourth-biggest opener ever.

The film, which again stars Bruce Willis as wisecracking cop John McClane, who must take on terrorists at an airport, sent Paramount Pictures’ “Days of Thunder” sputtering to second place in its second week.

A virtual remake of “Top Gun” (1986)--in which Tom Cruise this time plays a stock car racer (instead of a pilot)--”Days of Thunder” earned about $10.7 million, a drop of nearly 30% over the previous week, for total grosses of $40.5 million.

With about $6.7 million in ticket sales--down about 33%--Walt Disney Studios’ “Dick Tracy” was ranked third. It has now grossed about $78 million after four weeks.

In its opening weekend, Universal Pictures’ animated family film, “The Jetsons,” hovered at fourth place. Ticket sales were approximately $4.8 million--an impressive figure, considering that the original “Jetsons” TV series still zooms about in syndication.

In fifth place, with ticket sales of about $4.1 million--which pushed it over the $100-million mark--was Tri-Star’s “Total Recall.”

Ranked sixth through 10th, in approximate figures, were:

Paramount’s “Another 48 HRS.,” with ticket sales of $4 million; Orion Pictures’ “RoboCop 2,” $3.5 million; Universal’s “Ghost Dad,” $3.3 million; Disney Studios’ “Pretty Woman,” $2.6 million, and Warner Bros.’ “Gremlins 2: The New Batch,” $2.5 million.

With its $36-million opening, “Die Hard 2”--which opened to special previews on 1,828 screens last Tuesday night--now ranks as the fourth-biggest opener, following “Back to the Future II” ($43 million in five days), “Batman” ($42.7 million in four days) and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” ($37 million in four days).

Still, its weekend receipts of about $22.2 million, for an $8,855 per-screen average, did not break the record set earlier this summer by “Total Recall,” which earned $25.5 million--a $12,395 per-screen average--for what remains the year’s biggest three-day opening.