Theater slowdown drawing concern

Hollywood’s box-office results were sluggish for the second straight weekend, raising questions about whether the movie industry’s torrid pace in May can continue.

The extended summer season got off to a roaring start last month with “Spider-Man 3,” “Shrek the Third” and “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” and now the raunchy comedy “Knocked Up” is clicking with audiences.

But after a record $965 million in May grosses in the U.S. and Canada, according to research firm Media by Numbers, ticket sales have slowed compared with the same period last year.

For the movie business to live up to expectations and bank its first $4-billion summer season, the hits will need to keep coming.

“It’s going to be a strong summer,” said producer Jerry Weintraub, whose “Ocean’s Thirteen” was the weekend’s top-grossing movie at an estimated $37.1 million in ticket sales.

Meanwhile, some of last month’s blockbusters are fading fast.

“The only thing that could stop it from reaching the $4-billion level is that those big May movies are down so much, but they’re still smash hits,” he said. “Those are telephone numbers they’re putting up.”

All three of May’s big sequels have grossed more than $250 million domestically, and they are posting big numbers abroad.

Summer-to-date grosses in the U.S. and Canada are running slightly ahead of 2004’s record pace and well ahead of 2005 and 2006 levels, according to Media by Numbers. But attendance is down 7% from the record 2004 season.

On Hollywood’s calendar, summer starts with the first big release in May, but often it heats up in June and July when more children are out of school.

That’s what happened in 2004, when summer sales reached a record $3.95 billion, thanks to such hits as “Shrek 2,” “Spider-Man 2” and “Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban.”

Over the weekend, studios tested audiences’ appetites for more sequels with Warner Bros.’ “Ocean’s Thirteen” and Lions Gate’s gory “Hostel: Part II,” and for another flock of animated penguins with Sony Pictures’ “Surf’s Up.” The results could be summed up as a C-minus, as all three films grossed less than analysts expected.

Still, Weintraub and Warner Bros. said they expected “Ocean’s Thirteen” -- a caper comedy whose star-studded cast includes George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and Al Pacino -- to hold up well in the market.

Playing to adult audiences, who tend to pay the most attention to movie critics, the film should benefit from positive notices, they said.

On a smaller scale, Sony believes warm reviews will help “Surf’s Up” build an audience.

In the coming weeks, the stakes will be high for the next wave of costly sequels, including Friday’s heavily promoted “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” from 20th Century Fox, followed by Universal Pictures’ family comedy “Evan Almighty,” starring Steve Carell, and Fox’s action-adventure “Live Free or Die Hard,” starring Bruce Willis.

Walt Disney Co. and its Pixar Animation team have high hopes for “Ratatouille,” with sneak previews planned for this weekend in an effort to build buzz.

Distributors will try to break through the clutter of popcorn fare and get noticed with serious films this month such as the terrorism drama “A Mighty Heart” from Paramount Vantage, based on the murder of Daniel Pearl, and Michael Moore’s healthcare documentary “Sicko,” from Lions Gate and Weinstein Co.

Neither will be an easy sell, but the advance word is strong.

Paramount Pictures’ warring robot epic “Transformers,” from blow-it-up maestro Michael Bay, won’t arrive until early next month, but analysts are saying it could transform results for the second half of the summer.

Other major titles due out in July and August include “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” the musical “Hairspray,” and the thriller “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

The comedy “Superbad,” from some of the same filmmakers behind “Knocked Up,” is being talked about as another potential sleeper hit.

Josh.friedman@latimes.com