‘Innocent’ Tops Box Office With $12.1 Million

“Presumed Innocent,” the new Warner Bros.’ murder drama based on Scott Turow’s best-seller, opened to ticket sales of about $12.1 million--for the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office.

Starring Harrison Ford as a lawyer who finds himself on trial for the murder of his lover, the film edged out Paramount Pictures’ romantic fantasy “Ghost,” which claimed second place with ticket sales of $11 million. Starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, “Ghost” has so far materialized as the summer’s only major sleeper, with grosses of more than $50 million after three weeks.

In third place, with about $10 million in ticket sales, was Universal Pictures’ just-out comedy “Problem Child,” which the studio declined to screen early for critics.

Starring John Ritter and Amy Yasbeck as a yuppie couple who adopt a 7-year-old nightmare, the film’s release was heralded by one of the most talked-about trailers of the summer in which the youngster is shown wreaking havoc on everyone--including the family kitty--while George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone” plays in the background.

“Arachnophobia,” the thriller about a spider invasion in a sleepy country town, claimed fourth place with ticket sales of about $8.1 million. The first film from the Disney Studio’s Hollywood Pictures, it has grossed more than $20 million in two weeks.

In fifth place, with ticket sales of an estimated $4.1 million, was 20th Century Fox’s “Die Hard 2.” Though the film has now earned about $85 million after four weeks, it also dropped 40% over the previous week’s ticket sales--an indication that, like the summer’s other heavy-artillery movies, it will have played out by summer’s end.

With ticket sales of about $4.4 million, Tri-Star Pictures’ “The Freshman” took sixth place. A quirky comedy that teams Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick, the film opened wide (at more than 1,000 theaters) over the weekend, after a limited opening in just two cities the previous week.

The rest of the weekend’s Top 10, with figures in estimates, follow:

“Jungle Book” (Walt Disney Studios), seventh place with $3.9 million; “Navy SEALS” (Orion Pictures), eighth place with $3.4 million; “Days of Thunder” (Paramount), ninth place with $3.2 million, “Dick Tracy” (Walt Disney Studios), 10th place with $1.5 million.