‘Casper’ Success Is Haunting

On the highest-grossing Memorial Day in history, a ghostly presence led the pack of new movies.

“Casper,” the movie story of the comic book friendly ghost, scared off the competition with a $22.1 gross. The liveaction film, which pairs special effects spirits with actors such as Christina Ricci and Bill Pullman, ended the one-week run at No. 1 of “Die Hard With a Vengeance” and spoiled the opening of Mel Gibson’s “Braveheart.”

“Die Hard,” the third in a series starring Bruce Willis, grossed $19 million, while “Braveheart” - handicapped by its threehour length - opened with $12.9 million.

Like other longer movies, “Braveheart” is limited to fewer daily screenings.

Other openings included: “Johnny Mnemonic” with Keanu Reeves (No. 6, $7.4 million), “Mad Love” with Drew Barrymore and Chris O’Donnell (No. 7, $6.8 million) and “Tales From the Hood” with Clarence Williams III (No. 9, $3.9 million).

With action films claiming four of the top six spots, little films are falling from the race. At No. 11, for example, “A Little Princess” grossed $2.6 million to bring its three-week total to $5.4 million.

And “The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill…” grossed just $1.25 million. In three weeks, the Hugh Grant vehicle’s three-week run has grossed a total of $$7.1 million.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo