Seagal’s Martial Arts Film Still Has a Punch

For the second week in a row, Steven Seagal proved hard to top at the weekend box office.

20th Century-Fox’s “Marked for Death”--starring and co-produced by the former martial arts instructor--had ticket sales of $7.4 million, a per-screen-average of nearly $3,800. This brings its total grosses to nearly $22 million.

Warner Bros.’ “Memphis Belle,” about the final mission of a celebrated World War II bomber crew, came in second with opening weekend ticket sales of $5 million, for a per-screen average of $4,625.

The news was less uplifting for the weekend’s other new titles.

“Mr. Destiny,” produced by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, starring Jim Belushi in a “It’s a Wonderful Life”-like fantasy, had ticket sales of $2.9 million for seventh place. It opened on 727 screens, where it averaged $4,115.

Paramount Pictures’ “Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael,” a coming-of-age comedy-drama starring Winona Ryder, took ninth place with $1.7 million in ticket sales on 635 screens--an average of $2,762.

In limited release, Orion Pictures’ “The Hot Spot”--about a steamy Southern love triangle, directed by Dennis Hopper and starring Don Johnson--had ticket sales of $112,188 on 23 screens, for a per-screen-average of $4,874.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10, in approximate figures, were (3) “Ghost” (Paramount), $4.2 million; (4) “Fantasia” (Buena Vista), $3.9 million; (5) “GoodFellas” (Warners), $3.6 million; (6) “Pacific Heights” (Fox), $3.5 million, and (7) “Postcards From the Edge” (Columbia Pictures), $2.1 million.

In 10th place was Universal Pictures’ “Henry & June.” The first film to carry the NC-17 (adults-only) rating, the sexually provocative period drama had ticket sales of $1.4 million on 189 screens, for an average of $7,408.