Weekend Box Office : ‘Dragon’s’ Action: A Steep Drop

“Action” movies usually have one burst of good business in their first weekend before a steep drop off. Although not a conventional action picture, “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story”--a biography of an action-movie hero--took a 37% drop in business last weekend. Nevertheless, Universal Pictures said it’s elated with $19 million after two weekends for a movie that cost $15 million to produce.

Meanwhile, the political comedy “Dave” did what is not typical--it showed an increase in business in its second weekend, which is partly attributable to Warner Bros. adding 400 screens and partly to positive word of mouth. Even at theaters where the film had played a weekend earlier, there was only a 3% drop in business. The film stars Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver.

Among openers, “Posse” drew a strong $5.3 million on only 949 screens, while “Lost in Yonkers” turned in a languid $2.8 million.

Overall, the national box office was way off the pace of last year’s comparable weekend--when “Lethal Weapon 3” opened to a dazzling $33.4 million in three days.

* Kenneth Branagh’s version of Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” continued to do impressive box office in four cities.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Dave” $8.5 1566 2 (Warner Bros.) $18.4 $5,432 2. “Dragon” $6.3 1,938 2 (Universal) $19.2 $3,235 3. “Posse” $5.3 949 1 (Gramercy) $5.3 $5,597 4. “Indecent Proposal” $4 1,922 6 (Paramount) $84 $2,112 5. “Lost in Yonkers” $3 1,190 1 (Columbia) $3 $2,523 6. “Sidekicks” $2.1 1,270 6 (Triumph) $10.8 $1,655 7. “Benny & Joon” $1.6 1,314 5 (MGM) $17.4 $1,217 8. “Indian Summer” $1.3 1,290 4 (Touchstone) $12 $1,025 9. “The Sandlot” $1.3 1,426 6 (Fox) $24.6 $914 10. “Map of the Human Heart” $1 523 4 (Miramax) $1.3 $1,941 * “Much Ado About Nothing” $347,257 14 2 (Samuel Goldwyn) $529,120 $24,804

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.