Weekend Box Office : DeVito Comedy Dethrones ‘King’

Greed pays. The new Danny DeVito comedy about a money-grubbing New York shark, “Other People’s Money,” grabbed first place from “The Fisher King,” the story of a messiah-like New York street person, over the weekend. Still, “Fisher King,” starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, had a three-week run at the top. “Frankie & Johnny” stayed in second place, with business off 16% from the preceding weekend.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Other People’s Money” $5.0 1,246 1 (Warner Bros.) $5.0 $4,012 2. “Frankie & Johnny” $3.5 1,150 2 (Paramount) $9.5 $3,070 3. “The Fisher King” $3.4 1,551 5 (TriStar) $27.4 $2,180 4. “Ricochet” $3.1 1,360 3 (Warner Bros.) $15 $2,280 5. “Ernest Scared Stupid” $3.06 1,787 2 (Touchstone) $8 $1,715 * “Little Man Tate” $2.9 327 2 (Orion) $3.3 $8,902

* Jodie Foster’s “Little Man Tate” jumped from seven to 327 theaters and continued very strong with a hefty per-screen average. Meanwhile, “My Own Private Idaho” opened in 77 houses with a notable $835,000 gross, while rapper Vanilla Ice’s “Cool as Ice,” faced a meltdown in its first weekend, doing a soggy $625,000 on 392 screens.

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co. and industry estimates