Weekend Box Office : The Summer Doldrums Continue

Lackluster continues to be the operative word. Business is down so much that last year at this time, four movies did better than this week’s leader--”Hot Shots,” which stars Charlie Sheen. It topped the chart for a third week, with business off only 22% from the previous week. “The Doctor,” starring William Hurt, expanded from its limited run, and business shot up 30%. Orion’s “Mystery Date” opened to a poor $1.9 million reception on 1,340 screens.

* Business was very brisk for the limited-scale runs of “The Commitments” and “Paris Is Burning,” which has generated $787,324 in 10 days, since expanding from one theater in New York.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Hot Shots” $6.3 1,999 3 (Fox) $39.9 $3,167 2. “Terminator 2” $5.5 2,263 7 (TriStar) $168.4 $2,540 3. “Doc Hollywood” $5.2 1,646 3 (Warner Bros.) $26.3 $3,169 4. “The Doctor” $4.6 801 4 (Touchstone) $13.4 $5,796 5. “Double Impact” $4.5 1,747 2 (Columbia) $15.3 $2,579 * “The Commitments” $271,333 8 1 (Fox) $332,290 $33,917 * “Paris Is Burning” $300,968 32 17 (Miramax/Prestige) $1.3 $9,000

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.