Video Rental Charts : ‘Terminator 2’ Flexes Its Muscles

“Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” the year’s top action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton, powered its way to No. 4 in its first week on the Billboard magazine rental chart. Some retailers, however, are already reporting that it’s their biggest rental--by a wide margin. But for now, “City Slickers”--the Billy Crystal comedy/drama about yuppies on a dude ranch cattle drive--climbed to the top of the chart. Next week, look for “Terminator 2” to terminate the short reign of “City Slickers.” “Only the Lonely,” the John Candy comedy that received poor reviews, moved up two notches to No. 10.

* Though some critics blasted “Drop Dead Fred” as air-headed nonsense, it’s off to an admirable start (No. 17) on the rental chart. Starring Phoebe Cates, Marsha Mason and Carrie Fisher, this comedy/fantasy is about an imaginary friend invented during childhood returning to run amok in a woman’s adult life. It did decent box-office business--$13.7 million.

Ranking Weeks Ranking 2 Weeks On Rental Top Rentals Last Week Ago Chart 1. “City Slickers”(Columbia TriStar) 5 39 3 2.”Backdraft”(MCA/Universal) 1 1 8 3.”The Silence of the Lambs”(Orion) 2 2 9 4.”Terminator 2: Judgment Day”(LIVE) -- -- 1 5.”What About Bob?”(Touchstone) 3 4 8 * “Drop Dead Fred”(LIVE) -- -- 1