Weekend Box Office : Disney Takes Four of the Top 10 Spots

It was another Disney week at the nation’s box-offices with four of the company’s films, produced by its three divisions, scoring in the Top 10: “Medicine Man,” “The Hand That Rocks the Cradle,” “Father of the Bride” and the enduring “Beauty and the Beast.” This kind of dominance by one studio is rarely accomplished among the top-grossing films.

Ticket sales, overall, remain slow, but the industry is counting on the upcoming Presidents Day weekend and next week’s announcement of Oscar nominations to bolster grosses. Two of the Christmas season films, “The Prince of Tides” and “Bugsy,” have fallen off the chart, but may get a rebirth from Oscar publicity.

* “35 Up,” Michael Apted’s biographical documentary, scored well in its opening at Los Angeles’s Nuart Theater, with a weekend total of $16,829. The film has been playing strongly in two other cities.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Medicine Man” $8.5 1,304 1 (Hollywood) $8.5 $6,514 2. “Hand That Rocks the Cradle” $6.5 1,759 5 (Hollywood) $51.5 $3,678 3. “Final Analysis” $6.4 1,504 1 (Warner Bros.) $6.4 $4,263 4. “Fried Green Tomatoes” $6.2 1,229 7 (Universal) $25.3 $5,010 5. “Shining Through” $3.7 1,433 2 (Fox) $11.7 $2,567 6. “Father of the Bride” $2.8 1,645 8 (Touchstone) $72.4 $1,694 7. “Grand Canyon” $2.5 1,223 7 (Fox) $24 $2,012 8. “Beauty and the Beast” $2.309 1,580 13 (Disney) $106 $1,461 9. “JFK” $2.308 1,351 8 (Warner Bros.) $57.9 $1,709 10. “Hook” $2.1 1,598 9 (TriStar) $110 $1,315 * “35-Up” $36,755 3 4 (Goldwyn) $91,544 $12,275

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.