Weekend Box Office : The Winter Doldrums Continue

It hasn’t been a good stretch at the box office, as the numbers fell below those of 1994 for the fourth week running. Though the popularity of Universal’s low-budget “Billy Madison” demonstrated the public’s continued appetite for broad comedies in the “Dumb and Dumber” vein, the gross for “The Quick and the Dead’ was under expectations given the number of theaters in which it was shown and the marquee value of Gene Hackman and Sharon Stone.

“Legends of the Fall” toppled from first place after a month but the film may get a boost from today’s Oscar nominations, as will other Academy Award contenders. While newcomers “The Jerky Boys,” “In the Mouth of Madness” and “Boys on the Side” failed to take off, film industry folks are looking to this week’s debuts of “Heavyweights,” “The Brady Bunch” and “Just Cause” to turn things around.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Billy Madison” $6.6 1,834 1 (Universal) $6.6 $3,620 2. “The Quick and the Dead” $6.5 2,158 1 (TriStar) $6.5 $3,019 3. “Legends of the Fall” $4.5 2,038 8 (TriStar) $48.5 $2,190 4. “Boys on the Side” $4.3 1,444 2 (Warner Bros.) $10.7 $3,001 5. “Nobody’s Fool” $2.4 1.007 8 (Paramount) $27.6 $2,353 *6. “Dumb and Dumber” $2.3 1,779 9 (New Line) $110.7 $1,293 *7. “In the Mouth of Madness” $2.1 1,531 2 (New Line) $5.5 $1,372 8. “Murder in the First” $1.5 1,041 4 (Warner Bros.) $14.8 $1,407 9. “The Jerky Boys” $1.41 1,513 2 (Disney/Touchstone) $6.7 $936 10. “Highlander” $1.38 1,489 3 (Miramax) $12.0 $932

*These figures estimated as of press time.

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.