Weekend Box Office : Ticket Sales Up Despite Mother Nature

Despite the bad weather in the East and the earthquake in Southern California, ticket sales were 13% ahead of the same weekend a year ago. In many instances, the cold weather motivated people to go out to the movies and escape cabin fever.

The intersection of Richard Gere and Sharon Stone turned out to be no problem for “Philadelphia” and the intrepid “Mrs. Doubtfire” to pass through. All three films posted respectable grosses for the weekend, except that “Intersection,” in its first weekend, only did the level of business that “Mrs. Doubtfire” is still doing after nine weeks in the Top Ten. “Philadelphia” is showing strength in national release despite what was perceived to be its off-putting AIDS-related storyline.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Philadelphia” $8.83 1,295 5 (TriStar) $26.5 $6,819 2. “Mrs. Doubtfire” $8.8 2,290 9 (20th Century Fox) $162.5 $3,842 3. “Intersection” $7.8 1,300 1 (Paramount) $7.8 $6,014 4. “Grumpy Old Men” $5.7 1,676 5 (Warner Bros.) $41.4 $3,395 5. “Iron Will” $4.1 2,036 2 (Walt Disney) $10.4 $2,021 6. “The Pelican Brief” $3.7 1,809 6 (Warner Bros.) $86.5 $2,052 7. “Schindler’s List” $3.4 343 6 (Universal) $19 $9,930 8. “House Party 3” $3.3 849 2 ( New Line) $12.6 $3,870 9. “Shadowlands” $3.2 1,001 4 (Savoy) $13.4 $3,168 10. “Tombstone” $2.9 1,817 5 (Hollywood) $43.4 $1,613

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.