No Stopping 'Parents'

By Stephen M. Silverman

07/10/1998 at 12:00 AM EDT

Movie audiences wanted to laugh this weekend, and they did. Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller maintained the No. 1 position at the box office for the third week running (way to go, guys), with their "Meet the Parents" beating out the debut of Brendan Fraser and Elizabeth Hurley in the remake of "Bedazzled," which still did devilishly well. The same couldn't be said for "Pay It Forward," which, considering its Oscar-caliber cast (Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment) came in third, possibly because the reviews were awful. The Top 10, according to industry estimates:

1. "Meet the Parents," $16.3 million

2. "Bedazzled," $13.7 million

3. "Pay It Forward," $10.2 million

4. "Remember the Titans," $10 million

5. "The Legend of Drunken Master," $3.7 million

6. "The Contender," $3.6 million

7. "Lost Souls," $3.3 million

8 (tie). "The Exorcist," $2.9 million

8 (tie). "The Ladies Man," $2.9 million

10. "Dr. T and the Women," $2.5 million