WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : ‘Turtles’ Leads ‘Lambs,’ ‘Wolves’

The change to daylight savings and unseasonably warm weather on the East Coast contributed to a mild weekend at the box office, as New Line’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” led the way for the third straight week with $7.8 million in ticket sales. Business for the turtle sequel, which averaged only $2,770 per screen, plunged 40% after a 35% drop-off the weekend before. Despite unflattering reviews and publicized ego problems on the set, Hollywood Pictures’ “The Marrying Man,” the weekend’s only new major release, finished at No. 3. The Neil Simon comedy, starring on- and off-screen lovers Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, grossed $4 million.

* Todd Haynes’ controversial “Poison,” the NEA-subsidized film that has been attacked as gay male pornography, among other things, opened sensationally for $24,720 on one screen at the Angelika Film Center in New York.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Teenage Mutant Ninja $7.8 2,820 3 Turtles II” (New Line) $54 $2,770 2. “Silence of the Lambs” $4.7 1,627 8 (Orion) $94.4 $2,926 3. “The Marrying Man” $4 1,340 1 (Hollywood) $4.0 $3,008 4. “Dances With Wolves” $4 1,636 22 (Orion) $150.9 $2,454 5. “Defending Your Life” $3.6 689 3 (Warner Bros.) $3.6 $5,188 *”Poison” $24,720 1 1 (Zeitgeist) $24,720 $24,720

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.