`BUG'S LIFE' FLIES HIGH AT BOX OFFICE.

Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer

The nationwide opening of ``A Bug's Life'' soared past rivals for a record-setting victory at the U.S. box office with an estimated $46.5 million at 2,686 theaters during the Wednesday-Sunday holiday period, studio sources said Sunday.

The results gave the computer-animated comedy, co-produced by Disney and Pixar, the best total ever for the five-day Thanksgiving period, edging the 1996 record of $45.1 million for ``101 Dalmatians.''

``A Bug's Life,'' which has received strong reviews, could eventually match the $191.8 million total for ``Toy Story,'' the first Disney-Pixar collaboration.

``Audiences absolutely love this movie,'' said Disney marketing executive Chuck Viane. ``Everything points to it having terrific playability, no ifs, ands or buts about it.''

Viane noted that ``A Bug's Life,'' centered on an ant colony battling marauding grasshoppers, was attracting all demographics with one-third of the audience between 2 and 11 years old and another third between 12 to 25.

Analyst Arthur Rockwell said Disney's marketing for ``A Bug's Life'' had been particularly sharp and praised Pixar - a newcomer to Hollywood - for generating a property that could match ``Toy Story.'' ``It's quite an accomplishment for Pixar to have back-to-back successes like this,'' he added.

``A Bug's Life'' opened Nov. 20 for a five-day exclusive run at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood and took in over $400,000.

A trio of holdovers also performed impressively, led by Paramount's second weekend of ``The Rugrats Movie'' with $27.6 million at 2,836 theaters to give the animated comedy a highly respectable $58 million after 10 days.

Robert Bucksbaum, president of the Reel Source forecasting service, projected ``Rugrats'' will become the first non-Disney animated movie to top the $100 million mark, adding, ``That will be an incredible coup for Paramount.''

Rival studios have been spending hundreds of millions of dollars to break Disney's stranglehold on the lucrative animation business. Disney's Viane said there is enough demand for both ``A Bug's Life'' and ``Rugrats'' to generate solid results, adding, ``The marketplace always expands when there are several good movies.''

Disney took the next two spots with its second weekend of ``Enemy of the State'' with $25.7 million at 2,435 sites, followed by its fourth weekend of ``The Waterboy'' with $19.9 million at 2,782 locations. Along with the $2.3 million from ``I'll Be Home For Christmas,'' Disney releases took in an impressive $95.2 million during the five days, or better than half the estimated $185 million of overall business.

And the victory for ``A Bug's Life'' made it five years in a row that a Disney film had led the box office during the critical Thanksgiving holiday period, following ``The Santa Clause,'' ``Toy Story,'' ``101 Dalmatians'' and ``Flubber.''

``Disney is just going to dominate this quarter,'' Rockwell said.

For rival Universal, however, the weekend brought more misery to the troubled studio as its high-priced ``Babe: Pig in the City'' underperformed expectations with a fifth-place finish of $8.5 million at 2,384 theaters. Bucksbaum said the sequel, costing a reported $90 million, was hurt by strong performances by ``A Bug's Life'' and ``Rugrats'' and the negative publicity over delays in finishing the movie.

``There wasn't enough room in the marketplace and the studio had a difficult time highlighting the positive reviews because of the delays,'' Bucksbaum said. ``We still think `Babe' will pick up some steam in the coming weeks.''

Gramercy's widened release of Academy Awards hopeful ``Elizabeth'' generated solid results in 11th with $4.2 million at 516 theaters. Fox Searchlight's Oscar contender ``Waking Ned Devine'' continued to perform well in limited release with $251,792 at nine theaters and will expand on Dec. 11.

Overall business was up an estimated 18 percent over the same weekend last year. Year-to-date business has topped $6 billion, about 10 percent ahead of the same period of 1997.

``A Bug's Life'' is likely to lead next weekend, traditionally a slow moviegoing period, as the holiday shopping season kicks into high gear. The only new major release will come from Universal with its remake of ``Psycho,'' starring Anne Heche and Vince Vaughn.

Final results for this weekend will be released today.

TOP TEN

Here are estimated grosses at North American theaters for Wednesday through Sunday:

1. ``A Bug's Life,'' $46.5 million.

2. ``The Rugrats Movie,'' $27.6 million.

3. ``Enemy of the State,'' $25.7 million.

4. ``The Waterboy,'' $19.9 million.

5. ``Babe: Pig in the City,'' $8.5 million.

6. ``Meet Joe Black,'' $8 million.

7. ``I Still Know What You Did Last Summer,'' $6.4 million.

8. ``Home Fries,'' $5.1 million.

9. ``Ringmaster,'' $5 million.

10. ``Very Bad Things,'' $4.7 million.

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Box: Top ten (see text)