Weekend Box Office : ‘Toy Story’ on a Roll

Continuing its strong performance, Disney’s computer-animated “Toy Story” topped the box-office chart for the second weekend in a row with $20.2 million in ticket sales. Dick Cook, head of distribution at Disney, said the movie’s success will likely mean it will run in theaters far beyond the Christmas holidays: “The public certainly has embraced the movie--the animation, the story and the characters.” He also noted that children and their parents aren’t the only ones going to see the film. “The movie has crossed over to teenagers and adults without children,” he said.

Meanwhile, the total box office for the weekend came in at $65.9 million, a 19% increase over the same weekend last year, when the 78 films in theaters brought in a total of $55.6 million.

MGM, which has had two recent box-office hits in the James Bond thriller “GoldenEye” and the John Travolta mob comedy “Get Shorty,” saw its Walter Hill western “Wild Bill” fare poorly, with less than $1 million at the box office on 775 screens for a per screen average of $1,274. Miramax, meanwhile, saw its gangster film “Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead” come in at $44,118 on only four screens.

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Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Toy Story” $20.2 2,461 2 (Disney) $64.7 $8,194 2. “GoldenEye” $8.8 2,667 3 (MGM) $70 $3,314 3. “Casino” $6.1 1,617 2 (Universal) $23.7 $3,785 4. “Money Train” $6 2,522 2 (Columbia) $24.1 $2,386 5. “Ventura: When Nature Calls” $5.7 2,705 4 (Warner Bros.) $93.9 $2,116 6. “The American President” $5.3 1,508 3 (Castle Rock/Columbia) $33.5 $3,520 7. “It Takes Two” $2 1,581 3 (Warner Bros.) $15.1 $1,285 8. “White Man’s Burden” $1.73 942 1 (Savoy) $1.73 $1,841 9. “Get Shorty” $1.72 1,366 7 (MGM) $64.4 $1,265 10. “Nick of Time” $1.6 1,849 2 (Paramount) $6.1 $875

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.