Weekend Box Office : ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Still Cleaning Up

No one in Hollywood expects January moviegoing to keep up the pace of the holiday season. On the other hand, no one thought moviegoing this January would be as strong as it is--10% better than the same week a year ago. And it’s no wonder, what with the comedy “Mrs. Doubtfire” pulling in $11.5 million for the weekend--a number that is more common for an opening weekend instead of a movie’s seventh . Strong showings were registered by “The Pelican Brief,” “Grumpy Old Men,” “Tombstone” and “The Air Up There.”

“Shadowlands,” with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, expanded its modest-sized run and still generated numbers big enough to rank sixth. But the numbers were dismal for the openings of “Cabin Boy” with Chris Elliott (No. 13) and the action film “American Cyborg” (No. 22).

* Oliver Stone’s third film in his Vietnam trilogy opened in more theaters but is doing very slow business.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1.”Mrs. Doubtfire” $11.5 2,345 7 (20th Century Fox) $138.3 $4,919 2.”The Pelican Brief” $8.6 2,022 4 (Warner Bros.) $73.5 $4,238 3.”Grumpy Old Men” $6.4 1,39 3 (Warner Bros.) $25.7 $4,457 4.”Tombstone” $6.3 1,955 3 (Disney/Hollywood) $32.7 $3,254 5.”The Air Up There” $5.2 1,507 1 (Disney/Hollywood) $5.2 $3,478 6.”Shadowlands” $4 546 2 (Savoy) $4.2 $7,338 7.”Sister Act 2” $3.9 2,002 5 (Disney/Touchstone) $46.4 $1,941 8.”Beethoven’s 2nd” $3.5 2,032 6 (Universal) $37 $1,750 9.”Schindler’s List” $2.6 172 4 (Universal) $9.8 $15,137 10.”Wayne’s World 2” $2.2 1,703 5 (Paramount) $43 $1,264 *”Heaven and Earth” $1.7 781 3 (Warner Bros.) $3.3 $2,181