Big Weekend for ‘Fear’ and ‘Love’

The Easter weekend marked the 20th week in a row in which box-office grosses topped the previous year’s receipts. The weekend featured a close race between three films, with the courtroom thriller “Primal Fear” leading the pack, followed closely by New Line Cinema’s comedy-thriller “Thin Line Between Love & Hate” which had the highest per-screen average of all the films currently in theaters, at $8,232. Another noteworthy per-screen average high was Miramax’s zany comedy “Flirting With Disaster,” with $6,197. “The Birdcage,” the No. 1 movie for the last four weeks, was knocked off its perch into third place, despite weekend estimates that placed the movie in second.

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Three-Day Gross/ Screens/ Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average 1. “Primal Fear” $9.9 1,983 (Paramount) $11.9 $4,978 2. “Thin Line Between Love & Hate” $9.3 1,131 (New Line) $11.9 $8,232 3. “The Birdcage” $9.2 2,236 (MGM/UA) $87.6 $4,0123 4. “Sgt. Bilko” $6.0 2,309 (Universal) $16.7 $2,635 5. “Executive Decision” $4.8 2,285 (Warner Bros.) $42.9 $2,117 6. “Oliver and Company” $3.7 2,189 (Walt Disney) $10.0 $1,693 7. “Fargo” $2.5 716 (Gramercy) $12.1 $3,543 8. “A Family Thing” $2.0 1,134 (MGM/UA) $6.0 $1,771 9. “Up Close & Personal” $2.0 1,629 (Walt Disney) $43.0 $1,242 10. “Flirting With Disaster” $1.8 285 (Miramax) $3.0 $6,197

Weeks in Movie (Studio) Release 1. “Primal Fear” 1 (Paramount) 2. “Thin Line Between Love & Hate” 1 (New Line) 3. “The Birdcage” 5 (MGM/UA) 4. “Sgt. Bilko” 2 (Universal) 5. “Executive Decision” 4 (Warner Bros.) 6. “Oliver and Company” 2 (Walt Disney) 7. “Fargo” 5 (Gramercy) 8. “A Family Thing” 2 (MGM/UA) 9. “Up Close & Personal” 6 (Walt Disney) 10. “Flirting With Disaster” 3 (Miramax)

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.