‘Spawn’ Challenges ‘Air Force One’

Last weekend’s take was up 35% over the comparable stretch in 1996, according to the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Inc. “Air Force One” continued to pummel the competition, while the comic-book fantasy “Spawn” turned in New Line Cinema’s fourth-largest opening ever, after “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Mortal Kombat” and “The Mask.” “We knew there was a groundswell, a core group of fans--mainly young men and boys,” said Al Shapiro, New Line’s president of domestic theatrical distribution. “We also knew there was tremendous ignorance of the movie among the rest of the public and the industry. People are amazed a picture they never thought about landed up No. 2. We plan to expand by another 50 or so runs this week . . . but there aren’t many theaters left.”

Among the new entries, “Picture Perfect” opened reasonably well considering its modest $18-million budget. The youth-oriented “Air Bud” had a disappointing turnout, as did the urban drama “187,” taking in $2.9 million on 1,121 screens.

“Face/Off” became the seventh film this summer to topple the $100-million mark.

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Three-day gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Air Force One” $25.7 2,919 2 (Columbia) $80.7 $8,815 2. “Spawn” $21.2 2,536 1 (New Line) $21.2 $8,364 3. “George of the Jungle” $8.9 2,605 3 (Walt Disney) $64.3 $3,408 4. “Men in Black” $8.0 2,932 5 (Columbia) $208.1 $2,732 5. “Picture Perfect” $7.8 1,707 1 (Fox) $7.8 $4,575 6. “Contact” $6.2 2,210 4 (Warner Bros.) $75.6 $2,828 7. “Air Bud” $4.7 1,674 1 (Walt Disney) $4.7 $2,820 8. “Nothing to Lose” $4.5 1,800 3 (Disney/Touchstone) $32.2 $2,496 9. “Face/Off” $3.8 1,888 6 (Paramount) $102.0 $1,991 10. “Good Burger” $3.6 1,893 2 (Paramount) $14.1 $1,885

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.