Weekend Box Office : ‘Home Alone’ Passes $100 Million

It’s the lull before Christmas and all through Hollywood there’s anticipation of the final weeks of the year. This usually big moviegoing period will intensify as most schools let out Friday and Christmas obligations subside. In the meantime, the Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson and Demi Moore drama “A Few Good Men” kept box offices jingling with a strong $15.5-million opening-weekend gross.

The family-oriented “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and “Aladdin” continued to draw big numbers, though nothing like their huge opening weekends. But film exhibitors expect a resurgence once school is out. Likewise, the real test of the weekend’s new family film, “The Muppet Christmas Carol,” will come during vacation.

Meanwhile, “Home Alone 2” crossed the $100-million gross mark in 24 days. It took the original film 33 days to do the same.

Weekend Box Office

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “A Few Good Men” $15.5 1,925 1 (Columbia) $15.5 $8,061 2. “Home Alone 2” $8.3 2,300 4 (Fox) $101.4 $3,609 3. “The Bodyguard” $7.42 1,806 3 (Warner Bros.) $51.3 $4,113 4. “Aladdin” $7.4 1,131 5 (Walt Disney) $50.3 $6,551 5. “Distinguished Gentleman” $5.4 1,933 2 (Hollywood) $18.6 $2,812 6. “Muppet Christmas Carol” $5 2,075 1 (Walt Disney) $5 $2,415 7. “Malcolm X” $1.8 1,249 4 (Warner Bros.) $35.7 $1,456 8. “Bram Stoker’s Dracula” $1.6 1,602 5 (Columbia) $78 $1,002 9. “Passenger 57” $1 1,551 6 (Warner Bros.) $37.5 $666 10. “Under Siege” $715,000 1,045 10 (Warner Bros.) $75.4 $625

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.