‘Home’ Is All Alone in First Place

Kid stars dramatically upstaged superstars Robert Redford and Cher at the weekend box office, as a trio of youth-oriented titles led by the runaway hit “Home Alone” topped the charts with combined ticket sales of more than $27 million. (See box-office chart, F2.)

“Mermaids,” the first film from Cher since her ’87 Academy Award-winning performance in “Moonstruck,” drew opening weekend ticket sales of $3.5 million on 920 screens, for a weak per-screen average of $3,820, and sixth place.

“Havana,” which marks the seventh teaming of Redford and director Sydney Pollack--following the 1985 Oscar winner “Out of Africa”--had opening weekend receipts of $2.2 million on 824 screens, for a disappointing per-screen average of $2,640, and ninth place.

Meanwhile, first place again went to 20th Century Fox’s family comedy “Home Alone.” Starring Macaulay Culkin as a plucky 8-year-old who must defend the homestead when he’s inadvertently left home alone for the holidays, the film earned $11.6 million on 2,017 screens for a per-screen average of $5,760. After five weeks’ release, it has now grossed $99.3 million.

Tri-Star Pictures’ “Look Who’s Talking Too” grabbed second place with receipts of $8.1 million. The sequel to last year’s fall sleeper, this one about a trio of wise-cracking toddlers who “speak” via voice-overs by Bruce Willis, Roseanne Barr and Damon Wayans, opened at 1,576 theaters where it averaged $5,140 per screen.

Fox’s comedy-drama “Edward Scissorhands,” directed by Tim Burton (“Beetlejuice,” “Batman”) and starring Johnny Depp as an extraordinary young man with scissors for hands, was third with ticket sales of $6.3 million. In its first week of wide release on 1,023 screens, the film had a per-screen average of $6,183.

Elsewhere among the Top 10: “Dances With Wolves” (Orion Pictures) was fourth with $4.5 million; “Misery” (Columbia Pictures), fifth, $4 million; “The Rookie” (Warner Bros.), seventh, $3.5 million; “Three Men and a Little Lady” (Buena Vista), eighth, $2.7 million; “Predator II” (Fox), tenth, $1.2 million.