If Tales from the Darkside was the big film to open up May 1990 a la 2009's Wolverine, what could compare to the reboot of the Star Trek franchise on the second weekend? Nothing, nada, zilch. Friday, May 11th had nary a film open wide. But John Q. Public apparently wanted some popcorn as a big winner from March reemerged into the top five to take number four.

Apparently, Pretty Woman had curried enough favor with Disney/Touchstone to get a bonus of nearly 70 more screens, which resulted in an increase of 11% over the previous weekend. With an uptick and no new challengers, Julia Roberts' breakout film retained the top spot with $7.5 million ($12.9 million adjusted) and followed in the wake of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to her own trip across the $100 million mark.

Speaking of the turtles, the lack of competition had to be welcomed by them because their film held its number two slot despite shedding another 31% of revenue to $ 3.7 million ($6.3 million adjusted). The real darkside of box office for Tales from the Darkside was that it is still a horror film and it performed as they do by dropping 41% to $2.9 million ($4.9 million adjusted). Sadly, this was good enough for another lap in third place.

Number four welcomed an old friend with open arms. The Hunt for Red October resurfaced with $2.2 million ($3.7 million adjusted) with a decrease of only 8% in money and a loss of more than 50 screens. How did this happen? Likely, the void of newcomers and dearth of appealing titles overall get the credit. Undoubtedly, happy to still be in the top five, Spaced Invaders once again declines heavily (37%) to $2 million ($3.4 million adjusted).

Here's the score: Two weekends in May...Zero new box office factors. But as the third weekend approaches, finally, the studios seem to at least try to inject some life into theaters.

While not exactly a blockbuster/tentpole by today's standards, May 18th saw the debut of the witness protection action/comedy Bird on a Wire with Mel Gibson and Goldie Hawn. This was the first of a trio of Mel-starring films in 1990 with Air America coming in August and Hamlet opening limited in December. Remember, in the late '80s/early '90s, this pairing of Hawn and Gibson was a big deal that could arguably be compared to the match-up of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with two big names brought together for an action/comedy outing. With its debut take of $15.3 million ($26 million adjusted), Bird on a Wire easily took the top spot. Overall, the film did respectable business and outgrossed Mel's cinematic adventure with Goldie's better half in 1988's Tequila Sunrise, which opened to only $6.4 million on its way to $40 million. Apparently, 20 years ago, one Goldie Hawn was better than a Kurt Russell and a Michelle Pfeiffer.

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