HOLLYWOOD, June 4 -- Family comedy 'Casper' dominated a fairly strong national box office in its second outing with an estimated $14 million at 2,714 theaters for the Friday-Sunday period, studio sources said Sunday. The Universal release, which led over Memorial Day weekend with $22.1 million, has now taken in about $40 million in its first 10 days -- a figure that is particularly impressive since many of its admissions are half-price for its core audience of children. It is likely to remain at th etop of the box office next weekend when its chief competition will be the opening of Paramount's African adventure 'Congo.' Overall, the box office performed well during what is one of the slowest parts of the summer season since schools are not yet out for the under-25 audience. The opening of 'The Bridges of Madison County' came in a fairly strong second with $10.2 million at about 1,800 theaters, and should remain a strong performer till mid-summer since it is targeted at a mostly older audience. It will probably benefit from a slew of rave reviews and fairly good word-of-mouth and should easily top $50 million for Warner Bros. 20th Century Fox's third weekend of 'Die Hard With a Vengeance' still showed some punch at the box office with $9.2 million at 2,511 theaters, or slightly less than half its total over the Memorial Day weekend. It has gone past $61 million in its first 17 days and should make it past $100 million by the end of summer.
Paramount's second weekend of 'Braveheart' held up fairly well in fourth place with $7.3 million at 2,035 screens to push its 12-day total past $25 million. The performance is about in line with expectations and the Scottish epic should wind up with about $50 million. Disney's fourth weekend of 'Crimson Tide' came in fifth with $6.6 million at 2,500 theaters to move its gross past $61 million, followed by Columbia's third weekend of 'Forget Paris with $3.7 million at 1,609 theaters. TriStar's second weekend of futuristic thriller 'Johnny Mnemonic' finished seventh with $3.3 million at 2,030 to give it just $12 million in its first 10 days. Disney's seventh weekend of 'While You We're Sleeping' came in eighth with $3.1 million at 1,713 theaters to give the Sandra Bullock vehicle $61 million after 45 days. 'Sleeping' has managed to take in more than the combined grosses of its two rivals, 'Forget Paris,' with $20 million, and Fox's 'French Kiss' with $31 million after five weeks. Disney's second weekend of 'Mad Love' continued its fast fade in ninth place with $2.3 million at 1,500 theaters. It lost more than two- thirds of its audience from the Memorial Day weekend, making it one of the summer season's early flops. Rounding out the Top 10 was Savoy's second weekend of 'Tales of the Hood' with $1.9 million at 850 theaters. The weekend's only other opening becides 'The Bridges of Madison County' was MGM's 'Fluke,' which involves a man being reincartinated as a loveable dog. However, the project did not crack the Top 10 with an estimated $1.5 million at 700 theaters.
