MOVIES - May 17, 1993

Hail to the Chief: Moviegoers voted for “Dave” over the weekend. The Warner Bros. comedy, starring Kevin Kline as President, rose to the No. 1 spot at the box office with $8.5 million in earnings, according to early industry estimates. “Dave” switched places with last week’s No. 1 film--Columbia’s “Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story,” now in second place with $6.1 million. In third was Gramercy Pictures’ newcomer “Posse,” the comic Western directed by and starring Mario Van Peebles, which grossed $5.2 million. Next, the stronghold from Paramount, “Indecent Proposal,” which took in $3.9 million and has collected about $84 million to date. In fifth, Universal’s “Lost in Yonkers,” the new release based on Neil Simon’s Broadway play, with $3 million. A box-office note: “Much Ado About Nothing,” Kenneth Branagh’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s comedy from Goldwyn, took in an impressive $330,000 on just 14 screens in four cities--Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Minneapolis.