‘Gump’ Has a Surprise for Those ‘True Lies’ : Movies: Tom Hanks’ film brings in an estimated $22 million for the weekend, edging Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action-comedy for the top spot and crossing the $100-million mark in just 18 days.

It was a little like going to the movies: A scrawny competitor by the name of Forrest Gump narrowly beats big time Hollywood veteran Arnold Schwarzenegger to take first place.

Indeed, that’s what happened at the movie box offices over the weekend as the “little” $40-million “Forrest Gump,” with Tom Hanks in the title role, sold an estimated $22 million in admissions, while the $100-million mega-production “True Lies,” starring Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis and Tom Arnold, rang up a potent--but still second place--$21.4 million in ticket sales.

Meanwhile, three new films that opened nationally over the weekend had mixed results: “The Client,” based on the best-selling John Grisham novel, did a strong $17.2 million. But director Rob Reiner’s “North” opened to only $3.1 million and a retelling of “Lassie” was headed for $2.8 million.

It was the second non-holiday weekend in a row where box-office grosses hovered near a record $100 million, according to industry estimates for the Friday-through-Sunday period. With a string of what are expected to be several upcoming hit films--including “Clear and Present Danger,” starring Harrison Ford, and “The Mask,” with Jim Carrey, Hollywood insiders are increasingly optimistic that summer business may come close, if not surpass, last year’s record, established between the Memorial Day holiday and Labor Day. As of the past weekend, summer 1994 is only a few percentage points behind summer 1993.

Also over the weekend, two more movies joined the limited ranks of “The Flintstones” and “The Lion King” as summer films that crossed the $100-million mark--the thriller hit “Speed” from 20th Century, and Paramount Pictures’ “Forrest Gump.” “Speed” hit $100 million on Sunday after seven weeks of release and “Forrest Gump” did likewise, but on Saturday and after only 18 days of release.

John Krier, of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., predicted that “Gump” would be the summer’s second $200-million movie. The first will be Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Lion King,” which should cross into that rare realm today following its sixth weekend in release.

Barry London, Paramount’s president of worldwide distribution, said he continues to be amazed at the demographics that “Gump” is attracting. “The film is playing to ages 8 to 80,” he said. In the movie, Hanks plays the slow but innately clever Gump, a whimsical character who is an eye witness to many of the major events of the 20th Century’s second half.

Two weekends ago, “Gump” debuted in first place on the Top 10, but was bumped down a notch when Schwarzenegger’s “True Lies” opened a week ago. For “Gump,” the weekend’s first-place finish was a return to the top.

As for “True Lies,” the slip to second position wasn’t without a silver lining: Business was down only 18% from the first weekend--a number better than normal. The weekend’s four highest-grossing movies--”Forrest Gump,” “The Lion King,” “The Client” and “True Lies,” accounted for about three-fourths of all ticket sales.

In fifth place was “Angels in the Outfield,” with $7.2 million estimated for the weekend and $22 million after two weekends. “Speed” was sixth with $4.2 million.

Final numbers will be released today.