What Do August Openings Augur?

The dog days are here, and in Hollywood one might ask: Are there any more box-office hits to be squeezed out of the waning days of August? This weekend’s list of new releases might surprise everyone and strike box-office gold, but it seems that summer ’98 is ending more with a whimper than a bang. The new releases include Wesley Snipes in “Blade,” Leslie Nielsen in “Wrongfully Accused,” Vanessa L. Williams in “Dance With Me,” and the teen-oriented comedy “Dead Man on Campus.” Late August is also a chance for smaller films to test the waters. Gramercy Pictures is opening “Your Friends and Neighbors” by director Neil LaBute (“In the Company of Men”); Miramax is releasing the romantic comedy “Next Stop, Wonderland,” while October Films will debut “The Best Man.” Some of these movies were originally scheduled for different times of the year, but have hopscotched around the schedule. “Dead Man on Campus,” for instance, was once set for March, then late July, finally landing in late August. “Blade” was once set for a late September release, then moved to late July, before coming to rest this coming weekend. “August has the potential for some big openers,” explained Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Inc. “Some openers are in excess of $20 million, but it is the dog days of summer because it is more of a rarity for a movie to do that kind of business.” In recent years, Harrison Ford seemed to own the month of August. “The Fugitive” had the biggest August opening ever, grossing $23.8 million in 1993, while a year later “Clear and Present Danger” had the fourth biggest August opening, taking in $20.3 million. New Line Cinema also found it to be a great month to release sci-fi films. In 1995, “Mortal Kombat” grossed $23.3 million while “Spawn” sold $21.2 million in tickets two years later, becoming the second- and third-biggest-grossing August debuts. This year, “Snake Eyes,” starring Nicolas Cage, opened at $16.3 million for No. 6 on the August list, but the film debuted in second place behind “Saving Private Ryan.” This past weekend saw “The Avengers” take in an estimated $10.8 million. (See adjacent story.)

How Will Liz Fare in Light of Fair?

Have four years away from the pop spotlight magically transformed Liz Phair into a commercial force? The music industry will get its first indication Wednesday when SoundScan reports initial-week sales for the singer-songwriter’s new album, “Whitechocolatespaceegg.” We’ve already seen that Phair’s hiatus, during which the Chicagoan was married and gave birth to a son, did not diminish her standing as a critics’ darling. Reviews of the new album have been almost universally positive, with one critic noting: “We don’t have to wait for Hole’s new album to see if a feisty female rocker can mature without losing her edge.” But similar raves for Phair’s first two albums, 1993’s “Exile in Guyville” and 1994’s “Whip-Smart,” failed to translate into monster sales. It wasn’t until a few months ago that the albums finally achieved gold status (500,000 copies sold), even though “Guyville” was named album of the year in the Village Voice’s annual poll of the nation’s pop music critics five years ago. Still, there may be hope for Phair: The commercial viability of female singer-songwriters grew considerably during her absence, resulting most notably in the successful Lilith Fair. In fact, Phair may benefit from having played a handful of dates this summer on the high-profile national trek.

KCOP’s Annual Trek Onto PBS Turf

Once in a while a commercial television station can do something that isn’t completely ratings-driven. Such is the relationship between KCOP-TV Channel 13 and the Hollywood Bowl, with the station set to broadcast its 12th annual live concert from that venue Saturday. The evening will feature John Mauceri conducting the music of George Gershwin and Leonard Bernstein. While the event has never been a major ratings hit, KCOP has consistently garnered solid sponsor support, generated goodwill by making the coverage available to people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to attend a Bowl concert and won a total of nine local Emmy Awards. “It’s more of an image piece for the station, [but] the audience that does tune in stays with it,” said producer-director Harry Kooperstein, who will use nine cameras to provide a “conductor’s-eye view” of the festivities, hosted by KCOP’s Tawny Little and “Jeopardy!” quiz master Alex Trebek (who will not give introductions in the form of a question). Those in a slightly less elevated mood, meanwhile, can always turn to pay television, with HBO premiering its original film “The Rat Pack” and Showtime offering Demi Moore dancing to a different beat in “Striptease.”

--Compiled by Times staff writers and contributors