..Gary Dretzka
..Noah Forrest
..Leonard Klady
..David Poland
..Douglas Pratt
..Ray Pride
..Kim Voynar
..Michael Wilmington

The Elephant's Graveyard: The End of Summer Last weekend's top grosser were relatively unchanged, albeit with 30% to 60% less potency. Freddy vs. Jason was the top dog with an estimated $13.6 million, followed by S.W.A.T., Freaky Friday and Open Range. Overall weekend business should top out at around $100 million, a 33% decline from seven days earlier. However, it's still a significant 14% boost from 2002 when Signs was the weekend champion in its fourth frame and none of the freshmen releases - Serving Sara, Simone, Undisputed - cracked the top five. It is, notwithstanding the calendar, the last gasp of summer and in the coming days and weeks those buoyant mid-week numbers will grow ever dimmer as more and more schools and universities return to full sessions. With that in mind, the majors tend to bow, shall we say, its least resilient titles with the odd specialized title tossed in aimed at establishing an early fall toehold. Searchlight did just that with a strong bow of Thirteen. The industry's long established tradition of burying its losers in mid-August was well in evidence this past weekend with a trio of films that performed with fair to dire response. Best of the bunch was the Jackie Chan opus The Medallion (formerly titled The Highbinders) that ranked fifth with an $8.1 million box office. One of Chan's most expensive vehicles with a $35 million budget, it debuted to disappointing business a week earlier in Hong Kong. Also slipped into the mix were two inane comedies - Miramax's My Boss's Daughter with Ashton Kutcher grossing $5 million and Paramount's previously shelved Marci X featuring Lisa Kudrow and Damon Wayans eking out roughly $800,000. The latter film did not benefit from the memory of Bringing Down the House. In the past five years, this run up to Labor Day (the industry's official end of summer) weekend has ushered in such now forgotten fare as Summer Catch, Bubble Boy, Teaching Mrs. Tingle and Dead Man on Campus. The list of successful titles launched at this juncture is considerably shorter. They are as plentiful as unicorns. The sole bright spot among new releases was Fox Searchlight's Sundance acquisition Thirteen. The raw contemporary drama was drawing near capacity crowds in six locations for an opening salvo of approximately $114,000. The per screens for Miramax's second Project Greenlight winner, The Battle of Shaker Heights, were also encouraging at $11,000 in five theaters. However, the telling difference between the two is that the former received hosannas while the latter induced critical yawns. Shaker Heights grossed slightly less than the initial Greenlight Stolen Summer (released March 2002) but it bowed on five as opposed to 13 screens. Aesthetically, it's an experiment that's failed and one can only assume that the key to its continuance will be based on the economic viability of the HBO behind-the-scenes series. Altruism aside, those involved creatively with the first two outings have had their reputations savaged and only time will tell whether the scars involved will heal. Other debuting niche titles were unexceptional including First Look's Penelope Cruz picture Don't Tempt Me with about $17,000 at three venues and a two screen $9,000 gross in San Francisco for the indie curiousity Teknolust. The first expansion of American Splendor was evidence that strong critical support is an asset for the offbeat. It ramped up to 32 playdates and sustained a potent $14,500 average. Never Say Never … Sometimes Years ago I ran into a producer who shamefacedly admitted he was about to start production on Short Circuit 3. From the expression on my face, he immediately added that the second chapter was a bigger hit than was generally perceived because of foreign and ancillary revenue. This week's global grosser's chart serves as a reminder that Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle has generated about 65% of its box office outside of North America. So, at the very least, one should expect that Sony and Flower Pictures will commission an army of scribes to work on a third outing. And if all the percentages can be worked out, the gals will be back no later than 2006. - by Leonard Klady