Blockbusters Lose Box Office Grip : Lower-Budget Movies Account for 6 of Summer’s Top 10 Hits

James G. Robinson, the former car distributor who owns Morgan Creek Productions, bucked the trend when his company made the costly adventure movie “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.”

This was supposed to be the summer of restraint in Hollywood, which suffered from a string of costly failures last year. But for Robinson, the $56-million gamble paid off. “Robin Hood” has pulled down more than $100 million domestically and is still going strong.

The other top movie is “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” an even costlier film boasting spectacular special effects and the reigning summer movie king, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“Terminator 2” broke the magical $100-million mark at the box office in less than three weeks. Carolco Pictures, which has built its reputation on the muscled shoulders of celebrities such as Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, spent $90 million making the film.

The box-office dominance of “Robin Hood” and “Terminator 2” suggests that bigger may still be better in attracting summer audiences. But Hollywood is ambivalent. Studio executives are quick to note that for every “Terminator 2,” there is also a “Hudson Hawk,” the $57-million box-office dud.

“The success of two big, expensive movies only brings relief to people who have lived on the precipice of death,” one studio executive said. “They spun the gun chamber, and they didn’t blow their brains out. But there’s nothing but the highest level of anxiety in that.”

Hollywood’s big-budget fears are reflected in this summer’s film slate. Fewer than half of the current top 10 movies are large-scale productions. Modestly budgeted films such as “Naked Gun 2 1/2,” “Thelma and Louise” and “Jungle Fever” can be found after “Robin Hood” and “Terminator 2” on the hit list. Last year, eight of the top 10 movies boasted big stars and imposing budgets, according to Exhibitor Relations Co.

Paramount Pictures and Walt Disney Studios are the most vocal advocates of cost cutting. Paramount, which released two costly top 10 movies last summer, “Days of Thunder” and “Another 48 Hrs.,” has two cheaper ones this summer, “Soapdish” and “Naked Gun 2 1/2.”

Disney had two big-budget films in the pipeline this summer that predated a famous cost-cutting directive by studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg. “Rocketeer” stalled out, but “What About Bob?” has brought in a respectable $58 million.

Jerry Bruckheimer and his partner, Don Simpson, produced “Days of Thunder” for Paramount last year. The producers and the studio blamed each other for the high cost and disappointing performance of the movie, and Simpson and Bruckheimer have since moved to Disney.

Bruckheimer argues that there’s still a place for big-budget movies if the subject matter warrants it. “The public always makes the final decision on what they want to see,” he said. “And (they don’t) care about the budget. All they care about is the entertainment value.”

Hollywood also still believes in the value of a good franchise. Sequels to “Home Alone,” “Batman” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” are among the big films planned for next year.

One studio that remains committed to “event” movies is Mike Medavoy’s Tri-Star Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. Upcoming films include Barry Levinson’s “Bugsy” (budgeted at $40 million) and Steven Spielberg’s “Hook” ($50 million). Tri-Star was the studio behind “Hudson Hawk,” the summer’s most expensive flop, but it is also reaping big rewards from the domestic distribution of “Terminator 2” under a deal with Carolco.

Medavoy proffers the same defense of the blockbuster genre as Bruckheimer. “A lot of variables go into a good movie,” he said. “To try to pin a rule on expensive movies--saying people won’t go see them--is ridiculous. . . . Every one of us realizes that we all would like to spend less money in making movies. But some movies are events.”

Budget cutbacks at some major studios have provided an opening for independent companies. The highest-grossing summer films, “Robin Hood,” “Terminator 2,” “Backdraft” and “City Slickers,” originated at four independents--Morgan Creek, Carolco, Imagine Films Entertainment and Castle Rock Entertainment, respectively.

Morgan Creek’s Robinson, who admits that he is known for haggling over $5 items on company expense vouchers, maintains that the risks in making big movies are no greater than in small ones if the right elements are in place. He said he backed “Robin Hood” because it had “a great story, a great director and a great cast.”

Morgan Creek paid most of the production costs on “Robin Hood,” although Warner Bros. advanced the company $14 million against the U.S. distribution rights.

The movie represented a quantum leap for Morgan Creek, which had built its success on smaller movies such as “Major League” and “Young Guns.” The company could earn more than $60 million from the Kevin Costner film if it performs to expectations, according to Robinson.

But Morgan Creek has no plans to go into the blockbuster business full time. Robinson said the 3-year-old company will continue to make movies primarily in the $18-million range.

Carolco’s future is a bit cloudier. Some analysts say it has painted itself into a corner by tying its fate to ever-more-expensive action films. Its last major success was “Total Recall,” the Schwarzenegger action entry from last summer.

But Carolco argues that its risks are minimized by selling rights to its movies in advance. On “Terminator 2,” for example, Carolco received $91 million in advances through domestic, foreign, cable, broadcast and video deals.

“The movie industry looks at the absolute price tag and calls it a gamble,” said Roger R. Smith, Carolco’s executive vice president. “A gamble is a $15-million movie with no major stars.”

By laying off so much of its risk, Carolco also limits its upside. But it expects to realize a sizable return on “Terminator 2.” A $260-million worldwide gross would mean $30 million in profit to Carolco after interest and overhead.

Carolco lost $6.3 million in the first quarter, but Smith said it will report a turnaround this year. Two Schwarzenegger projects and one Stallone film are in the works, and Carolco will continue to produce smaller films, he said.

“We may go years without making another project the size of ‘Terminator 2,’ ” Smith said. “We don’t feel that we have to make the movies bigger and bigger.”

TWILIGHT OF THE BLOCKBUSTER? Six of this summer’s top 10 movies were made for moderate budgets, compared to only two last summer. 1991 (May 17--July 15) Gross Movie (studio); Gross in millions 1. Robin Hood (Warner): $109.9 2. Terminator 2 (Tri-Star): $90.4 3. -City Slickers (Columbia): $83.9 4. Backdraft (Universal): $67.4 5. What About Bob? (Disney): $57.1 6. *Naked Gun 2 1/2 (Paramount): $56.0 7. *Thelma and Louise (MGM-Pathe): $34.8 8. *Soapdish (Paramount): $32.7 9. *Jungle Fever (Universal): $28.9 10. *Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead (Warner): $20.8 1990 (May 18--July 16) Gross 1. Total Recall (Tri-Star): $104,9 2. Dick Tracy (Disney): $90.4 3. Back to the Future III (Universal): $76.2 4. Another 48 Hrs. (Paramount): $71.1 5. Bird on a Wire (Universal): $65.2 6. Die Hard 2 (Fox): $60.7 7. Days of Thunder (Paramount): $54.1 8. Gremlins 2 (Warner): $37.4 9. *Robocop 2 (Orion): $36.9 10. *Cadillac Man (Orion): $26.0 -Modestly budged movies Source: Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.