Weekend Box Office : ‘Ace’ Joins List of Strong Openers

With a strong opening weekend of $37.8 million at the box office, the Jim Carrey sequel “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls” vaulted to No. 8 on the list of best weekend debuts. The reigning champ at $52.8 million is still this summer’s “Batman Forever,” which co-starred Carrey, followed by “Terminator 2” ($52.3 million, over a five-day weekend), “Jurassic Park” ($50.2 million), “Batman Returns” ($47.7 million), “Batman” ($42.7 million), “The Lion King” ($40.9 million), “Apollo 13” ($38.5 million, five days), the “Ace Ventura” sequel, “The Flintstones” ($37.2 million, four days) and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” ($37 million, four days).

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Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average 1. “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls” $37.8 2,652 (Warner Bros.) $37.8 $14,255 2. “Get Shorty” $7.6 2,103 (MGM) $50.6 $3,775 3. “Copycat” $4.8 1,661 (Warner Bros.) $19.4 $2,873 4. “Powder” $4.1 1,621 (Disney/Hollywood) $21.5 $2,557 5. “Home for the Holidays” $3.3 1,000 (Paramount) $8.5 $3,345 6. “Now and Then” $2.7 1,713 (New Line) $21.8 $1,576 7. “Fair Game” $2.6 1,949 (Warner Bros.) $8.95 $1,314 8. “Seven” $2.5 1,818 (New Line) $81.9 $1,364 9. “Vampire in Brooklyn” $2.3 2,130 (Paramount) $16.7 $1,067 10. “Gold Diggers” $1.6 1,301 (Universal) $4.6 $1,205

Weeks in Movie (Studio) Release 1. “Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls” 1 (Warner Bros.) 2. “Get Shorty” 4 (MGM) 3. “Copycat” 3 (Warner Bros.) 4. “Powder” 3 (Disney/Hollywood) 5. “Home for the Holidays” 2 (Paramount) 6. “Now and Then” 4 (New Line) 7. “Fair Game” 2 (Warner Bros.) 8. “Seven” 8 (New Line) 9. “Vampire in Brooklyn” 3 (Paramount) 10. “Gold Diggers” 2 (Universal)

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.