Weekend Box Office : ‘Park’ Paces Summer Moviegoing

With “Jurassic Park” setting the pace, moviegoing this summer caught up and passed last summer (which got off to a rapid start with the May release “Lethal Weapon 3”). As of Sunday, this summer is running ahead of 1992 by roughly 7%. Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur horror film, which had grossed $171 million as of Sunday, is aiming at the $200-million mark by this weekend. About 34 million Americans have seen the film so far. The summer total was given another lift with the opening of “Sleepless in Seattle,” a romantic comedy that generated $17.3 million during the weekend.

But business was abruptly off almost 50% for “Last Action Hero” in its second weekend. * “Orlando,” based on Virginia Woolf’s gender-bending, century-spanning social satire, is off to solid start in the limited-release arena.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average 1. “Jurassic Park” $27.7 2,444 (Universal) $171 $11,330 2. “Sleepless in Seattle” $17.3 1,579 (TriStar) $17.3 $10,927 3. “Dennis the Menace” $9.3 2,085 (Warner Bros.) $9.3 $4,475 4. “Last Action Hero” $8 2,306 (Columbia) $30 $3,501 5. “What’s Love Got to Do With It” $5.5 1,091 (Touchstone) $13.2 $5,026 6. “Cliffhanger” $4.1 2,176 (TriStar) $65.6 $1,906 7. “Made in America” $2.1 1,898 (Warner Bros.) $38.6 $1,089 8. “Guilty as Sin” $2 1,427 (Hollywood) $19.1 $1,405 9. “Menace II Society” $1.8 581 (New Line) $18.6 $3,046 10. “Dave” $1.5 1,221 (Warner Bros.) $58.3 $1,208 * “Orlando” $226,855 15 (Sony Classics) $600,876 $15,124

Weeks in Movie (Studio) Release 1. “Jurassic Park” 3 (Universal) 2. “Sleepless in Seattle” 1 (TriStar) 3. “Dennis the Menace” 1 (Warner Bros.) 4. “Last Action Hero” 2 (Columbia) 5. “What’s Love Got to Do With It” 3 (Touchstone) 6. “Cliffhanger” 5 (TriStar) 7. “Made in America” 5 (Warner Bros.) 8. “Guilty as Sin” 4 (Hollywood) 9. “Menace II Society” 5 (New Line) 10. “Dave” 8 (Warner Bros.) * “Orlando” 3 (Sony Classics)

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.