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He's no Batman, but the shrouded, caped Darkman turned in a surprisingly solid performance in his opening weekend. Younger moviegoers in particular liked the over-the-top thriller that plays like a comic book come to life. If the picture does a couple more weeks of good business, it will mark the successful move of cult director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II) into the mainstream. It's a Hollywood truism that nothing sells a film like good word of mouth. At the same time, nothing kills a picture quicker than bad word of mouth. Take the not-so head-spinning The Exorcist III. Even though the film took in more than $9 million in its first weekend, research indicated a high level of audience displeasure. In its second weekend, the movie's gross plummeted more than 62 percent. WEEKEND TOP TEN GROSS WEEKS IN GROSS* TO DATE RELEASE
1 $8.05 DARKMAN $8.05 1 Universal (1,786 screens) 2 $7.47 GHOST $111.47 7 Paramount (1,766 screens) 3 $5.01 FLATLINERS $32.34 3 Columbia (1,464 screens) 4 $4.65 PRESUMED INNOCENT $59.57 5 Warner Bros. (1,327 screens) 5 $3.78 MY BLUE HEAVEN $13.24 2 Warner Bros. (1,868 screens) 6 $3.66 THE EXORCIST III $16.63 2 20th Century Fox (1,414 screens) 7 $3.18 MEN AT WORK $3.18 1 Epic/Triumph (962 screens) 8 $3.06 TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS $8.96 2 Hollywood (1,145 screens) 9 $2.54 AIR AMERICA $21.85 3 Tri-Star (1,597 screens) 10 $2.22 WITCHES $2.35 1 Warner Bros. (879 screens) *weekend of August 24-26 (all dollar figures in millions)
