Weekend Box Office : ‘Beverly Hillbillies’ Hits a Gusher

“The Beverly Hillbillies” arrived uptown during the weekend, moving into first place from second a week ago. With nearly $19 million after two weekends and only a modest drop in business, the film version of the cornball 1960s TV sitcom seems to have found its audience niche.

“Tim Burton’s the Nightmare Before Christmas,” however, is stealing the box-office thunder with its $11,000 per-screen totals (thanks in part to its relatively short running time, which allows for more screenings daily). This weekend, in time for Halloween, the ghoulish, offbeat fantasy will open in more than 1,000 theaters.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Beverly Hillbillies” $7.2 2,162 2 (20th Century Fox) $18.9 $3,320 2. “Demolition Man” $7 2,258 3 (Warner Bros.) $39.5 $3,140 3. “Nightmare Before Christmas” $6.2 563 2 (Touchstone) $6.6 $11,075 4. “Cool Runnings” $5.4 1,828 4 (Walt Disney) $33.3 $2,937 5. “Rudy” $5 1,460 2 (TriStar) $6.4 $3,444 6. “Malice” $4.1 1,519 4 (Columbia) $32.7 $2,706 7. “Joy Luck Club” $2.6 566 7 (Hollywood) $18.6 $4,647 8. “Judgment Night” $2.5 1,545 2 (Universal) $7.8 $1,625 9. “The Good Son” $2.1 1,508 5 (20th Century Fox) $38.1 $1,389 10. “Age of Innocence” $1.9 839 6 (Columbia) $25 $2,285

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.