Weekend Box Office : Steep Drop in Movie Ticket Sales

While “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle” continues to grab the box office, two other much-talked about movies sank during Super Bowl weekend. “Juice,” the urban street drama, appears to have squeezed the bulk of its business from the first weekend when it debuted in second place, after being the object of news stories focusing on its ad campaign and whether it would provoke violence. There were scattered shootings and other incidents at theaters where it opened. Over the quieter weekend just ended, the movie fell to 10th. The second movie, the much-lauded “Bugsy,” starring Warren Beatty, continued to lose steam with the public, dropping from 11th place to 12th. It has grossed $36.6 million in seven weeks of release.

Overall, ticket sales took a steep drop from the weekend before, a fact largely attributed in the trade to the potential audience that stayed home Sunday to watch the national football championship on TV. But there also was a lack of new films in the market to lure ticket buyers.

The women’s ensemble film, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” which has been playing in limited run since Christmas, expanded to 672 screens, and strong business pushed it into second place. Another 400 screens will be added by this weekend, according to distributor Universal Pictures. Fox’s “Grand Canyon,” a drama starring Danny Glover, Kevin Kline and Steve Martin, also added screens and moved into fourth position.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Hand That Rocks the Cradle” $8 1,722 3 (Hollywood) $32.1 $4,650 2. “Fried Green Tomatoes” $5.2 673 5 (Universal) $7.8 $7,780 3. “Father of the Bride” $3.8 1,712 6 (Touchstone) $63.8 $2,207 4. “Grand Canyon” $3.7 1,044 5 (Fox) $15.7 $3,514 5. “Hook” $3.52 2,037 7 (TriStar) $103.2 $1,730 6. “JFK” $3.51 1,370 6 (Warner Bros.) $50.2 $2,566 7. “The Prince of Tides” $3.42 1,545 5 (Columbia) $52.3 $2,228 8. “Beauty and the Beast” $3.25 1,761 11 (Disney) $99.2 $1,849 9. “Freejack” $2.8 1,560 2 (Warner Bros.) $10.6 $1,815 10. “Juice” $2.7 1,100 2 (Paramount) $11.8 $2,460

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.