‘Dragonheart’ Battles the Blockbusters

Universal’s new special-effects fantasy “Dragonheart,” starring Dennis Quaid and the voice of Sean Connery, fared strongly in its opening weekend against huge summer blockbusters “Mission: Impossible” (which continued in first place despite a 50% drop-off in ticket sales) and “Twister.”

“Dragonheart,” which was showing in considerably fewer theaters than the two big summer runaway hits (both of which have already grossed more than $100 million), had a per-screen average higher than that of “Twister” and just behind that of “Mission: Impossible.”

“Dragonheart” also fared significantly better than Universal’s other early-summer family film, “Flipper.”

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Three-Day Gross/ Screens/ Weeks in Movie (Studio) Total (millions) Average Release 1. “Mission: Impossible” $21.6 3,012 2 (Paramount) $107.1 $7,181 2. “Twister” $17.1 2,808 4 (Warner Bros.) $168.9 $6,094 3. “Dragonheart” $15.0 2,130 1 (Universal) $15.0 $7,055 4. “Eddie” $8.4 1,989 1 (Walt Disney) $8.4 $4,073 5. “The Arrival” $4.8 1,694 1 (Orion) $4.8 $2,701 6. “Spy Hard” $4.3 2,319 2 (Walt Disney) $16.8 $1,864 7. “Flipper” $1.9 2,281 3 (Universal) $13.2 $840 8. “The Truth About Cats & Dogs” $1.1 1,174 6 (Fox) $29.7 $1,005 9. “The Craft” $1.0 1,375 5 (Columbia) $21.6 $736 10. “Toy Story” $933,144 766 28 (Walt Disney) $187.9 $1,218

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SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co.