HOLLYWOOD, May 29 -- The opening of family comedy 'Casper' led a strong Memorial Day weekend box office with an estimated $20.6 million at 2,713 theaters for the Friday-Monday period, studio sources said Monday. The Universal release, based on the comic strip and 1960s TV show, wound up about $2 million ahead of the second weekend of 20th Century Fox's 'Die Hard With a Vengeance.' It was the second largest opening of a film this year, trailing only the $22.2 million taken in last weekend by 'Die Hard.' 'Casper' and 'Die Hard' will probably become the 1st two movies to make it to $100 million this year in domestic ticket sales. Both received strong publicity campaigns dating back to the Christmas season. The gross for Casper was the second biggest for a non-sequel on Memorial Day weekend, trailing only the $37 million taken in last year by Universal's 'The Flintstones.' Both films were executive-produced by Steven Spielberg and validate Universal's strategy of opening a major family-oriented picture before children are out of school. 'Die Hard' came in with about $18.7 million at 2,525 theaters to push its 11-day gross to nearly $50 million. It should manage to stay near the top of the box office for several more weeks. Disney's third weekend of 'Crimson Tide' appeared to have edged out Paramount's opening of 'Braveheart,' with $12.7 million at 2,400 theaters to give it about $55 million in its first 18 days. 'Braveheart' followed with about $12.1 million at 2,035 theaters, an impressive performance given its three-hour length.
'Braveheart,' which has received surprisingly strong critical support, opened Wednesday and took in $2.6 million in its first two days. It should manage to make about $50 million by the end of its run. Overall, the industry's performance represented the strongest Memorial Day weekend ever, with four films topping $12 million each and another four more than $6 million each. Columbia's second weekend of 'Forget Paris' came in fifth with $7.6 million at 1,609 theaters, followed by TriStar's opening of 'Johnny Mnemonic' with $7.5 million at 2,030 theaters. Disney's debut of 'Mad Love' was a close seventh with $7.3 million at 2,000 theaters, but it will face significant competition next weekend from a Warner Bros.'s opening of 'The Bridges of Madison County.' The studio showed sneak previews of 'Bridges' on Sunday night, giving a strong indication that it has confidence in the movie's potential. Disney's sixth weekend of 'While You Were Sleeping' continued to perform impressively with $6.2 million at 2,000 screens to push its 39- day total to nearly $60 million. The opening of 'Sovoy's Horror Fest -- Tales from the 'Hood' performed respectably with $4 million at 862 theaters to finish ninth. Rounding out the top 10 was Fox's fourth weekend of French Kiss with $3. 4 million at 1,411 theaters. Warner's second weekend of 'A Little Princess' finished 11th with $2.4 million at 1,300 theaters.
