Par's share of B.O. 'Indecent'
Amid a national B.O. slump of 18% to a four-year low of $ 380.8 million, "Indecent Proposal" yanked Par out of the cellar to become the month's top distrib with more than 19% market share.
The exclusive Daily Variety B.O. reporting survey breaks down the April data to be a national gross of $ 380.8 million, from 75.1 million tickets sold at a national composite average price near $ 5.07.
Comparable 1992 numbers were $ 462.1 million, 91.8 million tix and a price of $ 5.03. This earlier B.O. tally was the second-highest on record; the standing April record is $ 490.3 million in 1990.
The April period in these monthly surveys is defined so as to include all variants of Easter/Passover and most spring breaks in schools.
The inclusive dates this year were March 26-April 29.
The seasonally adjusted Variety Box Office Index for April was 85.5 vs. 104.0 a year back. Since the Index base of 100.0 is fixed for a 1990 base year, last month's level of U.S. box office activity is 85.5% of the average month's B.O. in the base year.
Top performers
Other leading pix last month included "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III,""Cop and a Half,""The Adventures of Huck Finn,""The Sandlot,""Point of No Return, ""Born Yesterday,""The Crying Game,""The Crush,""Unforgiven" and "Groundhog Day."
Warner Bros. ranked second in April market share, with just under 19%. This was accomplished by a few leading films in addition to several holdovers.
Buena Vista took more than 15% of the April action and Universal's share was about 10%.
After four months (16 weeks) of 1993, the cumulative U.S. gross is $ 1.28 billion.
This is the third best cumulative at this checkpoint; the record is $ 1.45 billion in 1991, followed by $ 1.39 billion in 1990.
The domestic B.O. is now tumbling into its typical pre-summer low before the normal uptick at Memorial Day holiday period, this year beginning around May 28.
Pre-summer releases
But there are several important-looking releases coming before that date, and there have in the past been many popular pix that got into the marketplace before Memorial Day.
However, history shows that these pre-summer releases are simply fighting for a limited supply of patrons.
