'Bride,' 'Blair' Come to Blows

Wednesday January 27, 1999 12:00 AM EST

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"The Runaway Bride," the long-awaited reunion of "Pretty Woman" stars Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, paid off handsomely at the box office this weekend, but its thunder was nearly stolen by the small-budget horror flick "The Blair Witch Project." "Bride" made $34.5 million, according to industry estimates, while "Blair," which cost less than $50,000, brought in $28.5 million -- averaging a whopping $25,886 per screen on 1,101 theaters. "Runaway Bride" played in nearly three times as many cinemas and averaged $10,925 a screen.

The weekend box-office score:
1. "Runaway Bride," $34.5 million.
2. "The Blair Witch Project," $28.5 million.
3. "Deep Blue Sea," $18.6 million.
4. "The Haunting," $15.1 million.
5. "Inspector Gadget," $14 million.
6. "American Pie," $6.7 million.
7. "Eyes Wide Shut," $4.4 million ("Eyes" shutting).
8. "Big Daddy," $3.5 million.
9. "The Phantom Menace," $3.4 million.
10. "Tarzan," $3 million.