Boxoffice-March.1988

"
Cheech
and
'
The
'
"Flowers
"
"
and
ORion
4. Orion (10 4%)gotabigheacl-start
"
Willi bci-uiid-ranked holdover platoon. which
was released in 1986 but made virtually all o<
its money in 1987 Low-budget "Robocop'
was the surprise smash of the year, and No
Way Out" a sturdy sleeper hit Yuletide black
comedy "Throw Momma From The Tram"
started strongly and was showing impressive
legs by years end But Orion's big disappointments
last year included The Believers."
"Making Mr Right." "Malone." "Best Seller."
"House of Games." "No Man's Land." and
"
Woody Allen's two post "Hannah projects.
"
Radio Days. "September
5. 20th Century Fox (8?%)
earned a big early hit in Predator. and an
"
astonishingly strong summer comedy in "Mannequin
Revenge of the Nerds 11" did good
"
business in late summer, as did "The Princess
Bride"' that autumn But Fox's two biggest hits
may still be in the making as twin powerhouses
"Broadcast News" and "Wall Street" continue
to rake in formidable post-holiday revenues
Flops included "Wisdom." "Black Widow."
"The Pick-Up Artist." "Proiect X, "Less Than
Zero." and "The Sicilian ""
7 Tn-Star (6 2%) had a tough season
Moderate tins Blind Date." "Like Father.
Like Son." and The Running Man" highlighted
a largely abysmal schedule that included
"Extreme Prejudice." "Light of Day."'
"
"Nadine." "The Monster Squad. "Ironweed."
"Suspect." "Gardens of Stone."
"Amazing Grace and Chuck." and "The
"
Squeeze studio's market share has been
stuck in a steady decline since the release of
"
"Rambo in 1985
8. Columbia (4 5%) had the distinction
of releasing the twin disasters "Ishtar
and "Leonard Part Vl" in 1987 "La Bamba.
"fit 4
meanwhile, was a huge sleeper, with a total
gross the producers of
"The Buddy Holly Story"
could only dream about "Roxanne did
quite well, and "The Big Easy turned a tidy
profit Disappointments included "The Big
Town. " "Someone to Watch Over Me ""
9. MGM/UA (42%)maintainedits
lead over the independents with two hits, a
new Bond picture. "The Living Daylights," and
Mel Brookss "Spaceballs "" Fatal Beauty."
meanwhile, marked Whoopi Goldtiergs third
low-earner in a row, and the little-seen thriller
"Dead of Winter" never got out of the gate
"Baby Boom," meanwhile, proved a decent
moneymaker, and both "Moonstruck" and
"Overboard" were showing early promise by
years end
'^^/^
6. Universal (? 2%) puned down
two big surprise summer comedy hits in what
was otherwise a lackluster year "The Secret
of My Success." and Dragnet" ranked sixth
and eleventh for the year resp)ectively. but
Harry and the Hendersons" was a major disappointment
from Amblin Entertainment, and
the rest of the studio s release schedule was
rife with losers Jaws the Revenge." "Cross
My Heart." "Cry Freedom." North Shore."
"Three 0"Clock High.' "Walker." and The
Allnighter
Mann scored an impressive
minor hit. though, with "Born in East
LA
10-15 ^i^
The Independents
New World ( 1 9%) led the pack with four key
releases.
"Hellraiser.
in the Attic,"
and Creepshow II. and House II Vestron
( 1 8%) scored its breakthrough hit this year
with Dirty Dancing, the highest-ranking independent
production to make the charts, and
New Line (1 8%) scored big with 20th ranked
Nightmare on Elm Street 3" and "The Hidden
Flailing 0E6 { I 6%). after a long slate of
Uumi
Xi-
films like "From The Hip,"
Million Dollar Mystery."
and "Date with an Angel," is already
putting Its assets on the auction block Cannon
( 1 3%) scraped together a market share out of
sheer quantity, releasing an undistinguished
slate of 18 films m 1987. among them Amer
ican Ninia II, Death Wish 4,"" "Masters of
the Universe." and Tough Guys Don t
Dance Tiny New CenturyA/ista ( 1 0%) took a
full percentile largely through its release of
The Gale." a film mlatrvous (or rwarty outgrossitig
"Ishtar " on« weekend
March, l'>KH S\V -4S