LOS ANGELES, Sept. 4 -- The third weekend of 'Mortal Kombat' led a mild Labor Day weekend box office with an estimated $8.5 million at 2,630 theaters during the Friday-Monday period, studio sources said Monday. 'Mortal Kombat,' based on the video game of the same name, has now racked up $55 million for New Line Cinema in its first 18 days, with foreign grosses likely to approach $100 million. The movie has turned out to be a highly profitable venture, given its relatively low $20 million production cost. The fourth weekend of the Walt Disney Co.'s 'Dangerous Minds' came in a close second with about $8.1 million at 1,594 theaters to go past the $55 million mark after 25 days. The opening weekend of of Miramax Films' horror thriller 'The Prophecy' with $7.4 million at 1,553 screens, which indicates the Christopher Walken vehilce is due for a quick fade over the next few weeks. Columbia's second weekend of 'Desperado' came in fourth with $6.2 million at 2,027 theaters, followed by 20th Century Fox's fourth weekend of 'A Walk in the Clouds,' with $5.5 million at 1,755 theaters. Universal's 'Babe' ranked sixth with $4.3 million at 1,789 theaters. 'Babe' has now topped 43 million in 31 days, in one of the stronger performances of a low-budget film this summer. Warner Bros.' fifth weekend of 'Something to Talk About' finished seventh with $3.9 million at 1,727 theaters, followed by Gramercy's widened release of the crime drama 'The Usual Suspects,' with $3.7 million at 506 theaters.
Universal's sixth weekend of 'Waterworld' came in ninth with $3.6 million at 1,832 theaters to push it past $81 million after 39 days, a somewhat disappointing performance given its reported $175 million price tag, but well short of the complete disaster many had foreseen. Rounding out the top 10 was Universal's tenth weekend of 'Apollo 13' with $3.2 million at 1,345 theaters to go past $162 million after 67 days. Overall, the summer movie season wound up with about $2.14 billion, about $30 million ahead of last summer's record-setting figure, but with something of a disappointment giving the increase in ticket prices and number of films and screens available. Universal wound up the summer as the leading studio with $391.5 million. Warner Bros. ranked second with $387.1 million, a good chunk of which came from 'Batman Forever,' the summer's leading film with more than $180 million. Only three films were able to top $100 million during the summer, compared with 8 last summer. Aside from 'Batman Forever' and 'Apollo 13,' only Disney's 'Pocahontas' was able to top that barrier.
