Weekend Box Office : ‘Jack’ Beats Up the Competition

“Jack,” Francis Ford Coppola’s film about a boy (Robin Williams) trapped in a man’s body, edged past “A Time to Kill” into the top spot at the nation’s weekend box office. “John Carpenter’s Escape From L.A.” also had a strong debut, coming in third, ahead of summer champ “Independence Day.” Overall ticket sales were down about 12% from the same weekend a year ago--a decline attributed in part to the massive power outage throughout the West on Saturday. “The power failure had something to do with it on the West Coast, there’s no question,” said John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations. One Southern California theater-chain owner reported that his theaters did twice the business on Sunday as on Saturday, a highly unusual jump, Krier said.

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Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Jack” $11.2 1,710 1 (Disney/Hollywood) $11.2 $6,545 2. “A Time to Kill” $10.8 2,313 3 (Warner Bros.) $59.2 $4,650 3. “Escape From L.A.” $8.9 2,312 1 (Paramount) $8.9 $3,855 4. “Independence Day” $8.7 2,589 6 (Fox) $256.8 $3,353 5. “Matilda” $5.0 2,006 2 (Sony/Columbia) $18.9 $2,500 6. “Phenomenon” $4.0 2,086 6 (Disney/Touchstone) $88.1 $1,921 7. “Chain Reaction” $3.7 2,556 2 (Fox) $14.9 $1,593 8. “Courage Under Fire” $3.3 1,666 5 (Fox) $48.1 $1,964 9. “Nutty Professor” $2.9 1,820 7 (Universal) $115.0 $1,595 10. “Kingpin” $2.9 1,975 3 (MGM/UA) $19.3 $1,449 * “Emma” $1.4 105 2 Miramax $1.8 $13,373

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* “Emma,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, continued its strong limited-release run, with a per-screen average of more than $13,000.

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.