Weekend Box Office : ‘Wayne’s World’ Keeps Partyin’ On

The two heavy-metal freaks in “Wayne’s World” keep on crankin’ at the top of the national box office, having grossed a hefty $46 million in three weeks’ time. Otherwise, movie ticket sales were sluggish, and off about 22% from the same weekend a year ago. The new Chevy Chase and Daryl Hannah comedy, “Memoirs of an Invisible Man,” ended up in second place, with $4.6 million, but that was slow going for a debut weekend. And if the second-place movie was limping, the rest of the Top 10 didn’t fare much better--except for the durable “Fried Green Tomatoes.” “Radio Flyer” took a 47% dive in business and fell off the Top 10.

* Limited initial releases of three films proved solid: “The Mambo Kings” danced to a hefty figure, Nora Ephron’s “This Is My Life” expanded sites and drew $313,964 on 31 screens, and “Under Suspicion” drew $47,000 on two screens.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Wayne’s World” $9.6 1,878 3 (Paramount) $46.1 $5,134 2. “Memoirs of an Invisible Man” $4.6 1,753 1 (Warner Bros.) $4.6 $2,625 3. “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot” $4.47 1,963 2 (Universal) $13 $2,280 4. “Fried Green Tomatoes” $4.35 1,329 10 (Universal) $47 $3,280 5. “Medicine Man” $3.53 1,363 4 (Hollywood) $30.8 $2,589 6. “Hand That Rocks the Cradle” $3.52 1,679 8 (Hollywood) $69.7 $2,099 7. “Final Analysis” $2.3 1,383 4 (Warner Bros.) $22.7 $1,665 8. “Beauty and the Beast” $2.1 1,346 16 (Walt Disney) $116 $1,578 9. “Mississippi Masala” $1.5 325 3 (Samuel Goldwyn) $2.6 $4,625 10. “Prince of Tides” $1.45 1,163 10 (Columbia) $66.3 $1,252 * “The Mambo Kings” $319,793 32 1 (Warner Bros.) $319,793 $9,994

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.