A case of the back-to-school blahs

By Lorenza Munoz

Sept. 8, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Summer is definitely over at the box office, as David Spade’s “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star” led a lackluster weekend to open at No. 1 with a paltry $7 million.

Hollywood has not had such a bad weekend in a long time, said Dan Marks, head of box office tracking firm Nielsen EDI. “Fire Down Below” in September 1997 was the last time a No. 1 movie grossed less than $7 million.

“Historically this is always one of the worst weeks, if not the worst week of the year,” said Marks, noting that kids and parents are busy getting back to school and work the weekend after Labor Day.

“Typically we don’t get many pictures with high appeal on this weekend.”

Another debut this weekend, Fox’s “The Order,” failed to inspire audience interest, coming in at sixth place with $4.3 million. Star Heath Ledger’s previous film, “The Four Feathers,” also tanked at the box office, grossing only $18 million in North America.

“Dickie Roberts,” from Paramount Pictures, barely nudged ahead of MGM’s horror movie “Jeepers Creepers 2,” which brought in $6.7 million, according to estimates, a 56% drop from its opening weekend.

Overall, this weekend’s top 10 films grossed $46 million, down 52% from last week and 17% below the comparable weekend last year, according to Nielsen EDI.

Those numbers are perhaps not surprising considering the dearth of new product. The fall season kicks into gear this coming weekend when “Once Upon a Time in Mexico,” “Matchstick Men” and “Lost in Translation” will open.

Some summer holdouts, however, are still cashing in. Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” pulled ahead of “The Matrix Reloaded” to become the second-highest-grossing film domestically of the summer and the year. Over the weekend, “Pirates’ ” North American box office tally came to $282 million, surpassing “The Matrix Reloaded’s” $279.7 million. However, “Matrix’s” worldwide gross is $727.4 million, versus $467 million for “Pirates.”

Another Disney film came close to hitting a milestone. “Freaky Friday,” a remake of the 1970s family film, has grossed $97.1 million and is expected to reach the $100 million mark by next weekend -- a number that has surprised most industry observers, including Disney executives.

Also this weekend, “American Wedding” crossed the $100-million mark, making it Universal Pictures’ fifth summer release to cross that threshold.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Preliminary results based on studio projections.

*--* Movie 3-day gross Total (millions)

*--*

*--* Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star $7.0 $7.0

Jeepers Creepers 2 $6.7 $27.4

Pirates of the Caribbean $5.5 $282.0

Freaky Friday $5.1 $97.2

S.W.A.T $4.6 $108.8

The Order $4.3 $4.3

Open Range $4.0 $49.1