Weekend Box Office : And the Winner Is . . . ‘Naked Gun 33 1/3’

“Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” thumbed its nose at the Academy Awards with a wacky Oscar parody on its way to winning the top box-office prize over the weekend in a landslide. The third installment of the Paramount comedy franchise, from producer David Zucker, grossed more than double its nearest competitor with a $13.2-million opening weekend.

* Director Ron Howard’s “The Paper” is certain to make future headlines after Universal rolled out the witty old-fashioned newspaper drama, starring Michael Keaton and Glenn Close, on five screens for $175,507, or roughly $35,000 per screen.

Weekend Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Naked Gun 33 1/3” $13.2 2,361 1 (Paramount) $13.2 $5,598 2. “Guarding Tess” $5 1,613 2 (TriStar) $14.3 $3,110 3. “Monkey Trouble” $4.5 1,412 1 (New Line) $4.5 $3,204 4. “Schindler’s List” $4.3 1,246 14 (Universal) $59.8 $3,495 5. “Lightning Jack” $3.2 1,733 2 (Savoy) $10.1 $1,847 6. “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” $2.7 1,747 7 (Warner Bros.) $62 $1,538 7. “The Ref” $2.3 797 2 (Buena Vista) $6.4 $2,910 8. “Mrs. Doubtfire” $1.7 1,244 17 (Fox) $208.2 $1,406 9. “Greedy” $1.6 1,598 3 (Universal) $11.2 $1,005 10. “8 Seconds” $1.5 838 4 (New Line) $11.9 $1,845 * “The Paper” $175,507 5 1 (Universal) $175,507 $35,101

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.