A ‘Red October’ Juggernaut : WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

It was a hot opening weekend for the Cold War thriller, “The Hunt for Red October.” Paramount Pictures’ adaptation of Tom Clancy’s best-seller had ticket sales of $17.1 million--for one of the biggest openings in a year, and one of the highest per-screen averages ($14,010) for a release of its size (1,225 theaters) in box-office history. The spectacular performance put to rest industry speculation that the $35-million-plus film would be imperiled by its pre- glasnost scenario.

Starring Sean Connery as a renegade Soviet submarine commander, “Red October” was originally slated for release in the fall. According to Barry London, president of Paramount’s motion picture group, the decision to have the picture surface earlier was based on marketing strategies that took advantage of what had been an uneventful film year.

“Red October” breaks out on Friday to 1,600 theaters.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1.”The Hunt for Red October” $17.1 1,225 1 (Paramount) $17.1 $14,010 2.”Driving Miss Daisy” $5 1,432 12 (Warner Bros.) $60.3 $3,554 3.”Hard to Kill” $4.2 1,508 4 (Warner Bros.) $33.3 $2,798 4.”Madhouse” $3 1,555 3 (Orion) $13.4 $2,205 5.”Born on the Fourth of July” $2.1 1,432 11 (Universal) $59.6 $1,755