Good Weekend Puts ‘Titanic’ in Sight of ‘Star Wars’ Port

“Titanic,” the nation’s No. 1 film for 11 weeks, appears to be a week away from sailing past “Star Wars” to become the all-time North America box-office champ, industry analysts said Sunday.

“It’s going to blow right past it,” said Art Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management in Los Angeles.

U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for “Titanic” already exceed $427 million, and analysts suggested that the figure could eventually reach $600 million. “Star Wars” has grossed $461 million, including earnings from its updated re-release last year.

“Titanic,” the ocean disaster epic from Paramount Pictures and 20th Century Fox, grossed an estimated $19.7 million during the weekend--the first time receipts have been below $20 million--but attendance dropped only 7% during a weekend that saw four new movies in wide release, according to Exhibitor Relations Co.

New Line Cinema’s romantic comedy “The Wedding Singer,” starring Adam Sandler, was in second place, grossing $9 million in its third week of release. The Oscar-nominated “Good Will Hunting,” from Miramax Films, was No. 3 with $6.6 million in its 13th week.

The most popular of the weekend’s debuting films was New Line’s futuristic thriller “Dark City,” which placed fourth at $5.5 million.

The poorly reviewed Richard Dreyfuss comedy “Krippendorf’s Tribe,” from Touchstone Pictures, opened at $3.2 million for seventh place, and Live Entertainment’s urban thriller “Caught Up” was 10th with $2.4 million.

A fourth new film in wide release, Universal Pictures’ “Kissing a Fool,” opened poorly, placing 11th with $2.2 million in ticket sales despite the presence of David Schwimmer of TV’s “Friends.”

Hollywood Pictures’ “An Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn,” screenwriter Joe Eszterhas’ satire about filmmaking, opened with just $31,000 at 19 locations.

Other films in the Top 10 were Sony/TriStar’s “As Good as It Gets,” in fifth, $4 million; Warner Bros.’ “Sphere,” sixth, $3.8 million; PolyGram Films’ “The Borrowers,” eighth, $2.8 million; and Dimension Films’ “Senseless,” ninth, $2.5 million.

All results are estimates. Final figures are to be released today.