‘ID4’: $150 Million in 12 Days

Fox’s sci-fi blockbuster “Independence Day” continues to break records, passing the $150-million mark on Sunday, its 12th day out. Before this, the record-holder had been “Jurassic Park,” which hit $150 million in 15 days. Box-office tabulators are predicting “Independence Day” will reach $200 million this weekend.

But counter-programming to the big action film proved profitable as well: Two less pyrotechnic dramas, “Phenomenon,” which features John Travolta as an ordinary man who undergoes an extraordinary experience, and “Courage Under Fire,” which stars Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan in a military drama, drew sizable audiences, even up against “Independence Day.”

In the family film arena, newcomer “Harriet the Spy” nudged “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” out of the Top 5 for the first time.

*--*

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Independence Day” $35.2 2,908 2 (Fox) $160.3 $12,119 2. “Phenomenon” $13.0 1,973 2 (Disney/Touchstone) $46.3 $6,576 3. “Courage Under Fire” $12.5 1,986 1 (Fox) $12.50 $6,295 4. “The Nutty Professor” $12.2 2,178 3 (Universal) $80.2 $5,605 5. “Harriet the Spy” $6.6 1,826 1 (Paramount) $9.6 $3,619 6. “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” $6.4 2,671 4 (Walt Disney) $77.0 $2,406 7. “Eraser” $6.3 2,506 4 (Warner Bros.) $81.0 $2,517 8. “The Rock” $4.4 1,848 6 (Disney/Hollywood) $117.4 $2,372 9. “Striptease” $3.0 1,841 3 (Columbia/Castle Rock) $27.9 $1,638 10. “Twister” $1.8 1,292 10 (Warner Bros.) $228.3 $1,431

*--*

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.