‘XXX’ Shows It Can Ride a Wave Too; ‘Blue Crush’ Opens in Third

Spies and space invaders were bigger draws at theaters this weekend than surfer women.

Vin Diesel’s espionage thriller “XXX” remained the No. 1 movie for a second-straight weekend, taking in $23 million to push its 10-day total to $84.9 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Signs,” starring Mel Gibson as a farmer fending off hostile visitors from space, came in at No. 2 again with $19.5 million, raising its 17-day take to $150.7 million.

“Blue Crush,” starring Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake as die-hard surfers in Hawaii, premiered in third place with $15.2 million.

The weekend’s other major release, Eddie Murphy’s sci-fi comedy “The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” bombed with just $2.15 million, coming in at No. 10. The movie, which cost about $90 million, was not screened in advance for critics, generally a sign that it’s a stinker.

“Unfortunately, every studio at some point has to face disappointing results from one of your films,” said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released “Pluto Nash.” “You only hope they’re few and far between.”

In narrow release, Gwyneth Paltrow’s scholarly romance “Possession” premiered with a respectable $1.6 million. The German-language food flick “Mostly Martha,” about feuding restaurant chefs, opened strongly with $42,000 in two New York City theaters. It will expands to the top 10 markets next weekend.

“This has been a dream year for the studio,” said Amy Pascal, chairman of Sony’s Columbia Pictures.

Sony still has a healthy lineup to come before year’s end, including the animated “Adam Sandler’s 8 Crazy Nights”; Sandler and Emily Watson in “Punch-Drunk Love”; Murphy and Owen Wilson in “I Spy”; and Jennifer Lopez in “Maid in Manhattan.”

The studio also has plenty of mileage left in “XXX,” which confirmed Diesel’s status as Hollywood’s big new action star. So far, the film has done slightly better business than Diesel’s breakout movie, “The Fast and the Furious,” which grossed $144.5 million last year.

With big hits waning as summer winds down, “XXX” could repeat again next weekend as the No. 1 movie, said Jeff Blake, head of distribution for Sony.

Premiering next weekend are Al Pacino’s Hollywood satire “Simone,” the Elizabeth Hurley-Matthew Perry comedy “Serving Sara” and the Wesley Snipes-Ving Rhames prison-boxing drama “Undisputed.”

“The disadvantage of late summer is it’s hard to get a big opening because people are less in tune for going to the movies,” Blake said. “The advantage is there’s a lot less competition.”

Overall, Hollywood revenues slipped for the fifth-straight week after months of surging business. The top 12 films took in $101.4 million, down 2% from the same weekend last year.

Summer revenues still remain about 5% ahead of the record set last year. And Hollywood remains on track to break 2001’s yearlong box-office record of $8.4 billion, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks ticket sales.