WEEKEND BOX OFFICE : ‘Wolves’ Continues Its Dance

The seven Oscars for Orion Pictures’ “Dances With Wolves” helped boost the movie’s box office 46% over the previous week. The Western epic added $5.4 million in ticket sales to a 21-week total that now stands at $144.5 million, moving “Wolves” past “Platoon” as Orion’s all-time highest grosser. However, the No. 1 film at the box office--for the second week in a row--was New Line’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II,” which dropped about 35% from the previous week. Even so, its $13 million in ticket sales for the week was more than double the next closest competitor, “Silence of the Lambs.” In two weeks of release, “Turtles” has a cumulative total of $33 million, not quite the pace of its predecessor.

* “The Five Heartbeats,” about five black vocalists from director Robert Townsend and 20th Century Fox, opened weakly with an estimated $1.6 million on 862 screens.

Movie Weekend Screens/ Weeks in (Studio) Gross Average Release 1. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II” $13 2,868 2 (New Line) Million $4,532 2. “Silence of the Lambs” $5.8 1,616 7 (Orion) Million $3,576 3. “Dances With Wolves” $5.4 1,621 21 (Orion) Million $3,331 4. “Career Opportunities” $4 1,400 1 (Universal) Million $2,857 5. “New Jack City” $3.7 905 4 (Warner Bros.) Million $4,088 * “The Five Heartbeats” $1.6 859 1 (Fox) Million $1,862

Movie Total (Studio) Gross 1. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II” $33 (New Line) Million 2. “Silence of the Lambs” $87.1 (Orion) Million 3. “Dances With Wolves” $144.5 (Orion) Million 4. “Career Opportunities” $4 (Universal) Million 5. “New Jack City” $25.9 (Warner Bros.) Million * “The Five Heartbeats” $1.6 (Fox) Million

SOURCES: Exhibitor Relations Co. and Times estimates.