‘Wolves’ Is Howling at the Box Office : Movies: Horror sequel ‘Child’s Play 2’ surprises with a $10.7 million opening. And Kevin Costner’s Western rides a high $42,733 screen average.

The pre-holiday movie season got a rousing send-off over the weekend with the horror sequel “Child’s Play 2” taking in a surprising $10.7 million at the nation’s box offices, while Kevin Costner’s “Dances With Wolves” rode a handful of movie marquees to the year’s highest per-screen average gross of $42,733.

The weekend slate even got a boost from “Ghost,” the seemingly eternal summer holdover. The Paramount Pictures film jumped 33% to the weekend’s No. 3 spot with $4.3 million in ticket sales, a feat some sources attributed to reports that “Ghost” was the year’s top-grossing film to date.

“Ghost” has now grossed $186 million, making No. 12 on the list of all-time top money-making movies.

“We’re definitely on our way for the holidays,” declared John Krier, president of Exhibitor Relations, which provides box-office information to exhibitors. Krier predicted healthy numbers for films set to open through Christmas. “This is the earliest we’ve ever gotten started--and the signs are certainly more than healthy,” he said.

Weekend leader “Child’s Play 2” is a follow-up to the 1988 sleeper about a murderous doll named Chucky. The Universal Pictures sequel opened on 1,996 screens for a solid per-screen average of $5,370. (The first “Child’s Play” opened on Nov. 9, 1988, to $8 million on 1,377 screens, an average of $4,781 per screen.)

But it was the per-screen numbers for “Dances With Wolves” that sent the industry buzzing. The movie’s $42,733 per-screen opening put it in the league with 1987’s “Good Morning, Vietnam” (which grossed $48,577 per screen its opening weekend) and 1989’s “Born on the Fourth of July” ($43,005). Both went on to become major hits when they expanded to more theaters after their initial limited releases.

“Dances” had total ticket sales of $598,257 on 14 screens in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago, Dallas, Seattle, San Francisco and Toronto. The film will open on about 1,000 screens on Nov. 21.

A sweeping epic, “Dances” stars first-time director Costner as a Union Army lieutenant who becomes drawn into the Sioux culture after taking an assignment on an outpost on the Dakota Plains.

Because of the film’s three-hour length and the fact that Westerns have not done well at the box office lately, “Dances” was considered a gamble.

But based on opening weekend figures, Orion executives are anticipating a hit. “This is one of those times when everything came together--including the fact that we had an exceptional film to work with,” said David Forbes, president of distribution.

Flanked by a massive marketing and publicity campaign--including lots of press coverage of Costner--”Dances” opened to largely positive reviews, the New York Times being a major exception.

Elsewhere at the weekend box office:

Tri-Star Pictures’ psychological thriller “Jacob’s Ladder”--which last week dominated the box office--dropped a rung, and more than 30%, to the No. 2 spot with ticket sales of $5 million.

Columbia Pictures’ comedy, “Sibling Rivalry” was in fourth place, with ticket sales of $3 million, and Warner Bros.’ “Reversal of Fortune” ranked fifth, with grosses of $2.5 million.

Rounding out the weekend’s top 10: “White Palace” (Universal), sixth, with ticket sales of $2.2 million; “Quigley Down Under” (MGM/UA), seventh, $2.14 million; “Memphis Belle” (Warner Bros.), eighth, $2.11 million; “Marked for Death” (20th Century Fox), ninth, $1.8 million; “Fantasia” (Buena Vista), tenth, $1.7 million.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

Movie Weekend Screens/ Weeks in Total (Studio) Gross Average Release Gross 1. “Child’s Play” $10.7 1,996 1 $10.7 (Universal) Million $5,370 Million 2. “Jacob’s Ladder” $5.0 1,262 2 $14.9 (Tri-Star) Million $4,030 Million 3. “Ghost” $4.3 1,713 18 $186 (Paramount) Million $2,512 Million 4. “Sibling Rivalry” $3.0 1,455 3 $12.4 (Columbia) Million $2,077 Million 5. “Reversal of Fortune” $2.5 661 4 $4.5 (Warner Bros.) Million $3,816 Million

SOURCES: Exhibitor Relations Co.