Box Office Take at $3.5 Million, Near Record Pace of ’89

Moviegoers have paid more than $3.5 billion so far this year at the domestic box office, nearly matching last year’s record-setting pace when the final total topped $5 billion.

With the surprise hit “Ghost” and the courtroom drama “Presumed Innocent” helping to keep sales from lagging in the late summer, the year-to-date box office total reached $3.51 billion over the weekend, according to Daily Variety, compared to $3.56 billion for the same period last year.

In 1988, the total at the same juncture had hit $3.18 billion.

The top 10 movies of the weekend, led by “Ghost” and the horror-thriller “Darkman,” drew $26.6 million during the three days, off 42% from the four-day total of $45.5 million registered over the Labor Day weekend.

The lukewarm performance reflected the fact that no major new releases made it into the top 10.

For the week, the total domestic box office reached $82.4 million, off from the $91.5 million of the year-ago week. In 1988, the figure was $88.2 million.

During the weekend, “Ghost” became the second-highest grossing movie of the year, as it has now taken in $133.4 million in nine weeks.

It trails only Disney’s “Pretty Woman,” which has brought in $170.3 million in 26 weeks and was still showing at 872 screens last week.

New Line Cinema’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has taken in $133 million in 24 weeks, while Paramount’s “Hunt for Red October” has grossed $120.6 million in 28 weeks.

Carolco’s “Total Recall,” which was the leading summer release until a few weeks ago, has earned $117.2 million in 15 weeks, and Fox’s “Die Hard 2” has pulled in $111.1 million in 10 weeks.