A Top ‘Cop’ at Box Office

“Cop Land,” the Sylvester Stallone-Robert De Niro drama about corrupt New York policemen, opened at No. 1 at the weekend box office, edging the 4-week-old Harrison Ford thriller “Air Force One.”

Miramax Films’ “Cop Land” took in $13 million over the weekend, compared to $12.6 million for Columbia Pictures’ “Air Force One,” according to preliminary estimates from the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.

“Cop Land” follows five Stallone films that have been box-office disappointments, none of them grossing more than $60 million in North America: “Daylight” (1996), “Assassins” and “Judge Dredd” (1995), “The Specialist” (1994) and “Demolition Man” (1993).

Stallone, forgoing his customary $20-million salary, was paid scale wages for “Cop Land,” in which he plays a sullen, overweight and reluctant sheriff asked to help investigate the corruption.

The only other film to open in the Top 10 was Paramount Pictures’ “Event Horizon,” a science-fiction story starring Laurence Fishburne. It finished fourth, with an estimated gross of $9.5 million.

Warner Bros.’ “Steel,” with L.A. Lakers star Shaquille O’Neal as a comic-book superhero, took in $900,000 in its limited-release opening and did not rank in the Top 10.

Last week’s box-office champ, Warners’ “Conspiracy Theory,” fell to No. 3, its gross dropping 36%, to $12.3 million. New Line Cinema’s “Spawn” slid 43%, to $5.1 million, for fifth place.

During the past week, the summer season set a new record, Exhibitor Relations reported. Ticket sales surpassed last summer’s record $2.38 billion in grosses. The company was still calculating the exact summer 1997 total following the weekend.

Much of the increase stemmed from higher ticket prices and more screens. But without a summer Olympics to distract the public, a parade of big releases has done well, led by “The Lost World: Jurassic Park,” “Men in Black,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and now “Air Force One,” which has grossed $130.6 million

Rounding out the weekend’s Top 10 were Disney’s “George of the Jungle,” $4.8 million; Columbia’s “Men in Black,” $4.3 million; 20th Century Fox’s “Picture Perfect,” $3.3 million; Warners’ “Contact,” $2.8 million; and Gramercy Pictures’ “Def Jam’s How to Be a Player” and Disney’s “Air Bud,” $2.4 million.

Final weekend figures are due today.