(Oh yeah, Betsy's Wedding with Alan Alda and Molly Ringwald opened alongside Robocop 2 but started out in sixth place with $4.7 million ($8 million adjusted) on its way to $19.7 million ($33.5 million adjusted). This parenthetical aside is about all this film can muster in a busy summer season. Please accept my apologies if you are an offended fan of M*A*S*H's Hawkeye and/or John Hughes' muse.)

While not technically a sequel, the last week in June introduced a retread in the form of the "Top Gun in a race car" film, Days of Thunder. At the helm was Tony Scott and behind the pretend steering wheel was Tom Cruise, still fulfilling his need for speed, albeit on the blacktop and not the blue skies. You may not know this but Days of Thunder is based upon a story by Tom Cruise...go ahead and get the giggles out now, I'll wait. The story apparently comes from the 1980s Mad Libs screenplay: a hot young race car driver (sexy profession) learns the value of teamwork (personal value) from the seasoned mentor.

As expected of Mr. Cruise at this point in this career, especially coming off the acclaimed Born on the Fourth of July, Days of Thunder opened with $15.5 million ($26.4 million adjusted) for the weekend but that figure is somewhat misleading. Days of Thunder throws a wrench in the works because it actually opened on the Wednesday prior. This Wednesday and Thursday accounted for another $6 million, so Days of Thunder had banked $21.5 million ($36.6 million adjusted) in its first five days.

As everyone knows it, this is the film that brought Tom and Nicole Kidman together. Do you remember when Joey from Friends said that if there is no chemistry between co-stars, then they are actually sleeping together. Well, if that assertion is accurate, then these two kids must've been head over heels in love.

With that young buck Tom Cruise taking the top spot, Dick Tracy and its cast of veterans are relegated to second place with $10.1 million ($17.2 million adjusted). Alas, Officer Murphy crumbled in his second weekend, as Robocop 2 dropped 54% to $6.4 million ($10.9 million adjusted). The fourth and fifth spots go to two films that ushered in the month of June: Total Recall with $6 million ($10.2 million adjusted) and Another 48 Hrs. with $5.4 million ($9.2 million adjusted).

So, the suits and powers that be in Hollywood had some pretty good reasons to be happy during for the first full month of summer. Stars showed they are stars because they bring people to the theaters, unlike today with underperformances from big names and over-performances from no-names. Will this continue to be a summer of "one-and-done" for the top spot or will a movie arrive and take up permanent residence? Either way, with the Independence Day holiday falling on a Wednesday in 1990, July's box office landscape might be a bit tricky but it'll be worth looking at in Hindsight.

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Source for 1990 box office totals: Variety.

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