‘Lion’ Leads Mouse Through ‘Forrest’ : Movies: Paramount’s ‘Gump’ tops summer’s final weekend, but Disney is the overall winner in a record-breaking season.

While it was Paramount Pictures’ “Forrest Gump” that was at the top of the Labor Day weekend film box office, it was Walt Disney Studios that claimed the title as the overall summer movie season champ.

Both studios were crowing about the business their films generated, and all Hollywood, in general, was upbeat as summer’s films took in an all-time seasonal record of an estimated $2.2 billion at the box office, up 3% from 1993’s record summer. An estimated 530 million tickets were sold between Memorial Day in May and the just-ended Labor Day weekend, beating the 1993 total of 516 million, according to statistics kept by Exhibitor Relations Co.

For the year-to-date, Exhibitor Relations reported that the estimated $3.8 billion in tickets sold is running 3% ahead of 1993.

With the end of the summer season, which typically accounts for 40% of a year’s business, Disney said its $442-million take had established a new industry record for summer grosses. The total is largely based on the hit animated film “The Lion King,” which was the season’s biggest hit--$262 million so far.

Disney’s distribution chief, Richard Cook, said Monday that the studio’s year-to-date revenue of $704 million is a new record for any studio. It surpassed the level reached by Warner Bros., which in 1993 had accumulated $700 million in theatrical film grosses by October.

Ironically, the Disney success comes at a time when the studio’s film production chief, Jeffrey Katzenberg, is preparing to leave his job, having struck out in a bid to become the Disney Co.’s second-in-command to chairman Michael Eisner.

“It wasn’t necessarily the movies, but the sheer volume of them that put Disney in the lead,” said one veteran Hollywood observer. Under Katzenberg’s reign, Disney dramatically upped the volume of its releases per year.

But cynicism aside, other executives at rival studios said the Disney achievement reflected the success of the summer as a whole. It was the first time the season has produced seven movies that will gross more than $100 million. And it appears possible that “Forrest Gump,” with $238 million grossed after nine weekends of release, may briefly surpass the $262 million accumulated by “The Lion King,” which will end its run Sept. 21. Disney, however, plan to reopen the movie in mid-November.

At the moment, director Robert Zemeckis’ “Gump” is Paramount’s second highest grossing film, having surpassed “Beverly Hills Cop,” and it’s closing in on the studio’s biggest film, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” which grossed $242.4 million. With its $11.6-million gross over the Labor Day weekend, “Gump,” which stars Tom Hanks, took first place for the fourth time. The film has never dropped below the No. 2 spot.

No. 2 in the weekend estimates was director Oliver Stone’s visually jarring “Natural Born Killers,” which grossed $10.5 million, only a small drop from its opening weekend.

“Killers” has grossed nearly $30 million after two weeks. In third place, Paramount’s”Clear and Present Danger” has $98.4 million and the studio’s fourth-place “Milk Money” did$6 million in its first weekend.

In fifth was “The Mask,” with $5.5 million and $99.1 million to date. “True Lies” was sixth with $4.2 million and $132.5 million overall. “Corrina Corrina,” was seventh with $3.7 million and a total of $9.5 million.

“Lion King” was eighth with $3.4 million for the weekend. “Fresh” had an opening weekend of $3.1 million and “The Client” was 10th with $3 million and $82 million after seven weekends.

“Twist of Fate,” a new film starring Steve Martin, opened to a disappointing $1.4 million.