Weekend Box Office : ‘Up Close’ Wins Over Hearts

For the 15th straight weekend, the box-office tally surpassed that of the corresponding period a year ago--sending 1996 about 23% above 1995’s record-breaking pace. Of the new entries, “Up Close and Personal”--the only romance in the field--overcame middling reviews to clinch the top spot, while “Down Periscope,” with “Frasier’s” Kelsey Grammer, came in second.

“Grammer, the star of one of the top 10 TV shows, was obviously able to transfer his appeal to the big screen--just as Tim Allen did before him,” said Paul Dergarabedian, executive vice president of Exhibitor Relations, a company that tracks box-office performance. “And recent experience shows that crazy comedies in the ‘Dumb and Dumber’ mode can clean up with the youth audience if they’re done well.”

In its second week, “Rumble in the Bronx” declined less than the norm for an action film. Despite considerable star power, “Mary Reilly” (Julia Roberts) and “Before and After” (Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson) dropped sharply.

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Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Up Close and Personal” $11.1 1,506 1 (Disney/Touchstone) $11.1 $7,372 2. “Down Periscope” $7.2 2,022 1 (Fox) $7.2 $3,576 3. “Rumble in the Bronx” $6.8 1,780 2 (New Line) $18.9 $3,810 4. “Broken Arrow” $6.0 2,277 4 (Fox) $53.0 $2,653 5. “Happy Gilmore” $4.81 2,069 3 (Universal) $24.6 $2,325 6. “Muppet Treasure Island” $4.79 2,068 3 (Walt Disney) $24.8 $2,316 7. “Mr. Holland’s Opus” $4.2 1,629 7 (Disney/Hollywood) $62.3 $2,582 8. “City Hall” $2.5 1,563 3 (Columbia) $17.5 $1,604 9. “Before and After” $2.2 1,318 2 (Disney/Hollywood) $7.0 $1,536 10. “Dead Man Walking” $2.1 803 10 (Gramercy) $24.1 $2,663

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.