RIO DE JANEIRO  Titanic has become the most-seen film in Brazilian history and has helped drive a surge in overall B.O. revenues.

At the 14-week mark, James Camerons epic had drawn auds of 13,406,287, beating out the 22-year record of 13,035,000 held by Jaws.

Titanic has also sailed past the $60 million mark, a considerably higher gross than the film has made in either Italy or Spain and a whopping five times the take of last years Brazilian b.o. champ, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

The Titanic phenom is but a part of a strong local B.O. climb. Grosses from the top 20 films screened in the initial 14 weeks of 1998 reached $88.6 million, sharply up from just $27.7 million in the same period last year.

Admissions for the period more than tripled to 19.7 million, from 6.14 million last year.

Even disregarding the impact of Titanic, exhibs saw a 46% B.O. rise and a 30% admission increase year-on-year.

Two local pics have helped fuel the climb: Renato Aragaos kiddie comedy O Novico Rebelde, with 1.5 million ducats sold, and Berlin Golden Bear winner Central Station, from Walter Salles Jr., which was going strong with 800,000 admissions by its fifth week.

But both are far behind Brazils most-seen domestic, Dona Flor and her Two Husbands, which sold 10,735,000 tix in 1978 and ranks third overall.

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), May 13, 1998

Answers

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-- Thomas M. Terashima (titanicShack@yahoo.com), May 14, 1998.