‘Godfather III’ Sets Yule Opening Record : Box office: Sequel has ticket sales of $6.3 million on 1,800 screens. ‘Home Alone’ tops five-day charts.

Francis Coppola’s “The Godfather Part III” opened Tuesday with an all-time Christmas Day record.

The long-awaited sequel had ticket sales of approximately $6.3 million on 1,800 screens, for a per-screen-average of $3,461.

At press time, based on the film’s single-day performance, it tied for third place in the top 10.

Ticket sales of $6.3 million are a high figure for a day that is not traditionally a big moviegoing day, but not as high as some industry sources were expecting when weighed against the level of anticipation and the enormous amount of publicity that accompanied the film’s release.

Moreover, some exhibitor sources reported that the film played largely to adults and that while it was SRO in the big cities, its performance was “weak” in smaller cities. There were also concerns about whether the Christmas Day crowd will widen to include the teen-age audiece. As one exhibitor put it, “The film’s real test will come this weekend.”

Paramount Pictures was quick to rebuff any dimming of what the studio sees as a bright Christmas Day performance.

“We are ecstatic! This movie has exceeded our expectations,” declared Barry London, Paramount’s motion picture group president in charge of distribution. London added that he has been in touch with Coppola about the figures, “and he is delighted.”

Though news about “Godfather III” dominated the reports of moviegoing over the five-day holiday period--Friday through Tuesday--it was “Home Alone” that topped the charts.

The 20th Century-Fox comedy about an 8-year-old who must fend for himself over the holidays had ticket sales of about $15.4 million on 2,108 screens--for a per-screen average of $7,305. That’s an impressive number considering the film had already played for five weeks. The season’s PG-rated runaway sleeper has grossed more than $115 million.

In the No. 2 spot, with receipts of about $11.1 million, was Universal Pictures’ just-out “Kindergarten Cop,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a tough cop who goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher. The PG-13-rated film, which drew critical complaints because of its mix of violence and comedy, played on about 1,830 screens, where it had a per-screen average of $6,058--the highest of the weekend’s new releases.

Tied for third place was “The Godfather III” and Orion Picture’s “Dances With Wolves,” both with ticket sales of about $6.3 million. In estimated figures, fifth and sixth places were claimed by holdovers “Edward Scissorhands” (Fox, $6.2 million) and “Looks Who’s Talking Too” (Tri-Star Pictures, $5.8 million).

MGM/UA’s just-out “Russia House” was No. 7 with ticket sales of about $4.4 million. Based on John Le Carre’s best-selling espionage thriller and starring Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer, the film opened to mixed reviews and on 768 screens, where it averaged $5,729.

Another new title, Warner Bros.’ “Bonfire of the Vanities”--starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith--was eighth, with receipts of about $4.2 million on 1,373 screens for a disappointing per-screen average of $3,058.

Rounding out the top 10, in estimated figures, were the holdover titles “Misery” (Columbia, $4.1 million) and “Three Men and a Little Lady” (Buena Vista, $3.4 million). Meanwhile, Orion’s “Mermaids” starring Cher and Winona Ryder, plummeted to 11th place in its second weekend with ticket sales of about $3.4 million.