Weekend Box Office : Blizzard Dumps on Box Office

The blizzard in the East and Midwest put a major dent in box-office totals for the weekend. Industry sources estimated that ticket sales in those regions were down at least 20% from the same week a year ago.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release * “Fire in the Sky” $6.6 1,422 1 (Paramount) $6.6 $4,641 * “CB4” $6.5 1,205 1 (Universal) $6.5 $5,394 3. “Falling Down” $4 1,827 3 (Warner Bros.) $25.3 $2,229 4. “Groundhog Day” $3.6 1,742 5 (Columbia) $48.4 $2,077 5. “A Far Off Place” $3.5 1,610 1 (Walt Disney) $3.5 $2,188 6. “The Crying Game” $3.3 1,093 16 (Miramax) $38.5 $3,019 7. “Homeward Bound” $2.3 1,696 6 (Walt Disney) $31.8 $1,332 8. “Mad Dog & Glory” $2.3 1,118 2 (Universal) $7 $2,057 9. “Aladdin” $1.8 1,308 18 (Walt Disney) $190.4 $1,376 10. “Amos & Andrew” $1.7 1,233 2 (Columbia) $6.2 $1,380

* In early estimates it appeared that Universal Pictures’ rap music comedy “CB4” was in first place, running slightly ahead of Paramount Pictures’ “Fire in the Sky,” the story of a man’s abduction by space aliens. But the pressure to be number one for the two studios, neither of which have had any number one films in many months, was at play Monday.

As most film companies released their weekend grosses by noon, Universal and Paramount could not provide numbers. It was a “transparent game of chicken,” said one source at another studio, who suggested the two companies might want to play “a little loose with the numbers” so they could be number one. By Calendar’s deadline, neither studio reported final numbers. So the figures above for both films are based on industry estimates.

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.