‘Home Alone’ the Holiday Weekend Box-Office Champ

“Home Alone,” a comedy about an 8-year-old boy who has to defend his house against burglars when his parents inadvertently leave him alone for the holidays, grossed nearly $30 million over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday to hold onto its No. 1 position at the box office despite strong new competition.

Fox’s “Home Alone” took in $28.7 million at 1,284 theaters, for a huge per-screen average of $22,328. The film increased its business from its surprising opening weekend and has grossed $48.2 million in just 10 days.

The movie’s opening weekend business obviously gave it a jump on competition from films that came into the season with much higher expectations. Touchstone Pictures’ “Three Men and a Little Lady,” the sequel to the Christmas box-office champion just three years ago, earned $19.1 million at 1,281 theaters, a per-screen average of $14,910. The figure was good enough for second place, but few would have imagined it being trounced during its opening weekend by a film starring an unknown 10-year-old (Macauley Culkin).

Another sequel, Fox’s “Predator II”--which this time finds the alien killer on the prowl in Los Angeles--came in third, with $13.2 million at 1,950 screens (an average of $6,815) over the five days.

Fourth place went to Orion Pictures’ Western epic, “Dances With Wolves,” which widened from limited release to 1,048 screens, where it earned $12.6 million at a per-screen average of $12,071--impressive figures, considering the film’s 3-hour running time, which limits the number of daily screenings.

In fifth place was MGM-UA’s “Rocky V,” which tumbled 44% during its second weekend in release, earning $11.3 million on 2,053 screens, for a per-screen average of $5,508.

But it was the staying power of “Home Alone” that had the town talking. The film jumped approximately 27% in ticket sales in its second weekend.

While putting as happy a face as possible on its figures for “Three Men,” a spokeswoman for Disney/Touchstone acknowledged that Fox had launched “Home Alone” with “a terrific campaign.” The size of “Home Alone’s” success, however, seemed to surprise even Fox executives.

Tom Sherak, executive vice president for Fox, said: “We have a film that has captured the public’s fancy. It all starts with the movie.”

Fox is being credited with shrewd strategy by advancing the release of “Home Alone” to be in the market before other higher-profile family-themed films opened, especially “Three Men and a Little Lady.”

“We agonized over our release date,” said Sherak. “But as soon as we heard Disney was moving up the date of ‘Three Men’ from Dec. 21 to Nov. 21, we knew we had to get the jump on them. We definitely wanted to be in the marketplace first.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were:

“The Rescuers Down Under” (Disney), $5.2 million, sixth place; “Ghost” (Paramount Pictures), $4.5 million, seventh; “Child’s Play II” (Universal Pictures), $3.9 million, eighth; “Jacob’s Ladder” (Tri-Star Pictures), $2.7 million, ninth; “Quigley Down Under” (MGM/UA), $1.2 million, tenth.

FIVE-DAY THANKSGIVING WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Movie Weekend Screens/ Weeks in Total (Studio) Gross Average Release Gross 1. “Home Alone” $28.6 1,284 2 $48.2 (20th Century-Fox) Million $22,328 Million 2. “Three Men and a Little $19.1 1,281 1 $19.1 Lady” (Buena Vista) Million $14,910 Million 3. “Predator II” $13.2 1,950 1 $13.2 (20th Century-Fox) Million $6,815 Million 4. “Dances With Wolves” $12.6 1,048 3 $14.3 (Orion) Million $12,071 Million 5. “Rocky V” $11.3 2,053 2 $27.3 (MGM/UA) Million $5,508 Million

SOURCES: Exhibitor Relations Co.