Weekend Box Office : ‘Freddy’s Dead’ Wakes Up Box Office

New Line’s latest installment in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” series is subtitled “The Final Nightmare,” but from a box-office vantage point, it’s anything but. Freddy’s sixth screen appearance grossed more on opening weekend than any of its predecessors and marked the third biggest opening ever for an independent film, after New Line’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II.”

The movie’s strong showing wasn’t entirely unexpected given the picture’s strong ad and merchandising campaign (which featured 3-D FreddyVision glasses), the timing of the release and general box-office malaise. “Most studios are careful not to open pictures during the Jewish holidays, the end of school vacation and the start of the top college football games,” says John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. “New Line was smart. The marketplace needed something fresh.”

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Freddy’s Dead” $13 1862 1 (New Line) $13 $6,964 2. “Dead Again” $3.8 940 4 (Paramount) $22.7 $4,084 3. “The Commitments” $2.51 555 5 (Fox) $6.4 $4,524 4. “Terminator 2” $2.5 1,651 11 (TriStar) $190.7 $1,503 5. “Hot Shots” $2.25 1700 7 (Fox) 61.7 $1,323

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.