Hanks Rules, but Cruise on His Way

“Big” looks like it could rule the rental roost for a while, since its closest contenders on the Billboard magazine chart have already passed their peak. “Big’s” big competition is most likely to come from the newcomers bounding onto the chart this week, including “Tucker” (No. 10) and “Gorillas in the Mist” (No. 14), which features Sigourney Weaver’s Oscar-nominated performance. Other major chart entries are the romantic “Crossing Delancey” (No. 20), starring Amy Irving, and grim “Dead Ringers” (No. 25), boasting Jeremy Irons’ acclaimed performance. “Betrayed,” a drama about love blooming in a white-supremacist stronghold, crawled up three notches to No. 6. On the sales chart, Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalker” is still No. 1.

* Many critics were chilly toward “Cocktail,” starring heartthrob Tom Cruise as an ambitious bartender. But fans--particularly all those female Cruise fanatics--were intoxicated by “Cocktail,” which raked in $77.2 million at the box office. It debuted relatively low--No. 27 on the rental chart--but could shoot up to No. 1 in the next few weeks.

VIDEO CHARTS

Rental Rental Weeks Top Ranking Ranking 2 On Rental Rentals Weeks Ago Chart Chart 1.”Big” 1 6 4 (CBS-Fox) 2.”A Fish Called Wanda” 2 1 8 (CBS-Fox) 3.”’Crocodile’ Dundee II” 3 3 5 (Paramount) 4.”Die Hard” 4 2 12 (CBS-Fox) 5.”Big Business” 5 5 8 (Touchstone) *”Cocktail” ... ... 1 (Touchstone)