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‘Home Alone’ Fends Off Yet Another ‘Intruder’ : Box Office: Vietnam War film opens to mediocre business as comedy remains on top for 10th week. After four weeks of release, ‘Godfather Part III’ drops to 12th.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

With the war in the Persian Gulf beamed into living rooms, movie-goers didn’t rally to watch men at war on the big screen over the four-day holiday, which included Martin Luther King’s birthday.

“Flight of the Intruder,” Paramount Pictures’ long-in-production saga about a bombing mission over Hanoi involving an A-6 Intruder had a less-than-victorious opening weekend ticket sales total of about $5.7 million for fifth place. Released on about 1,490 screens, the John Milius-directed film, which stars Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe and Brad Johnson, had a weak per-screen average of $3,828.

Another just-out film, “White Fang”--based on Jack London’s adventure novel about a gold miner and his wolf-dog in the chilly north--earned $5.6 million on 1,108 screens where it had a solid per-screen average of $5,090. From Disney’s Buena Vista Distribution, the family film was ranked sixth for the week.

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Orion Pictures’ “Eve of Destruction”--about a female terminator-type robot--opened with receipts of about $2.5 million on 985 screens, for an average of $2,538, and 13th place.

As for the weekend’s top earners, 20th Century Fox’s “Home Alone” led the pack, for the 10th week in a row, with an estimated $11.1 million.

Columbia Pictures’ “Awakenings” was second with about $7.6 million; Universal Pictures’ “Kindergarten Cop” earned about $6.8 million for third place; and Orion’s “Dances With Wolves”--which won three awards, including best picture (drama) at the recent Golden Globes ceremonies--was fourth with receipts of about $5.8 million.

Elsewhere: After just four week’s release, Paramount’s controversial “The Godfather Part III” dropped out of the top 10. With receipts of about $3 million--a drop of more than 35% over the previous week--Francis Ford Coppola’s sprawling Mafioso sequel was ranked 12th.

In its second week, Universal’s “Lionheart,” starring martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme, dropped about 40% over its opening weekend. With ticket sales of about $4.9 million, it was seventh.

Also plummeting its second week: MGM/Pathe’s “Not Without My Daughter.” Starring Sally Field as a woman struggling to get her child out of Iran, the film--which many critics assailed as anti-Islamic--earned about $3 million for 11th place.

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Among limited release titles, Miramax Films’ “The Grifters”--an intricately plotted tale of con artists starring Anjelica Huston, John Cusack and Annette Bening--earned $125,195 on six screens in Los Angeles, for an impressive per-screen average of $20,864. The film widens to 800 screens Friday.

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