Weekend Box Office : ‘Shorty’ Extends Its Run in Top Spot

“Get Shorty,” MGM’s adaptation of the Elmore Leonard novel, took the top spot for the third straight week, keeping John Travolta firmly on the comeback trail. “This movie is a bit of a surprise since projects dealing with show business normally don’t hit,” said Exhibitor Relations president John Krier. Disney’s “Powder,” the story of a boy with telekinetic powers, also held strong, despite--or possibly because of--the controversy over director Victor Salva’s 1988 conviction on molestation charges.

Overall, however, box office was down from last year as a glut of suspense and action adventure films aiming for the same demographic divided the spoils. Among the newcomers, “Fair Game” did OK considering the negative reviews, as did Jodie Foster’s whacked-out comedy “Home for the Holidays,” which was playing on only 1,000 screens. Although the Universal family film “Gold Diggers” fared less well, things are expected to pick up this weekend with the release of “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.”

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Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Get Shorty” $9.7 2,103 3 (MGM) $40.1 $4,612 2. “Powder” $6.5 1,614 2 (Hollywood/Disney) $15.6 $4,003 3. “Copycat” $5.6 1,579 2 (Warner Bros.) $12.8 $3,562 4. “Fair Game” $4.9 1.949 1 (Warner Bros.) $4.9 $2,538 5. “Vampire in Brooklyn” $4.4 2,307 2 (Paramount) $13.4 $1,905 6. “Home for the Holidays” $4.0 1,000 1 (Paramount) $4.0 $4,008 7. “Now and Then” $3.8 1,713 3 (New Line) $18.1 $2,231 8. “Seven” $3.7 2,007 7 (New Line) $78.4 $1,861 9. “Gold Diggers” $2.5 1,297 1 (Universal) $2.5 $1,955 10. “Three Wishes” $1.7 1,538 2 (Savoy) $5.0 1,100

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.