"Freddy vs. Jason" Still Gripping

It was the same old horror story this weekend at the box office.

Freddy vs. Jason remained number one for a second week, raking in $13.2 million, per official studio tallies released Monday.

Not faced by any major competition, the slasher icons' gory flick nevertheless dropped 64 percent, matching the bummer second-week decline of many ultra wide openers this summer. But the New Line release still managed to grab the best screen average in the playing-everywhere category--$4,364 at 3,014 sites--to push its overall two-week gross to $61.2 million.

The most successful of the new wide releases was The Medallion, yet another Jackie Chan odd-couple comedy-actioner. This time Chan shows off his chops as a cop in partnership with quick-quipping British comic Lee Evans and hottie Claire Forlani. The PG-13 Sony release debuted in fifth place with $8.1 million, averaging $3,043 per screen at 2,648 sites.

But the weekend's other major newbies, the nominal comedies My Boss's Daughter and Marci X (neither of which was screened for critics--always a bad sign), were DOA.

My Boss's Daughter, featuring Hollywood It guy and Demi boy-toy Ashton Kutcher, failed to ignite any sparks. The PG-13 Dimension release, costarring Tara Reid as Kutcher's object of affection, opened way down in 10th place with a scant $4.9 million. The flick averaged a woeful $2,206 per 2,201 sites.

Things were even uglier for Marci X, the hip-hop cross-cultural comedy with Damon Wayans and Lisa Kudrow. Tossed into just 1,200 theaters, the Paramount release only managed to average $727, rapping up a mere $872,950.

In limited release, the kudos went to Thirteen. The harsh, too-much-too-soon look at peer pressure among teen girls starring Evan Rachel Wood, Nikki Reed and Holly Hunter and directed by Catherine Hardwicke opened at just five sites and averaged $23,252 for a total of $116,260. The R-rated Fox Searchlight release, a Sundance smash, was cowritten by Hardwicke and Reed and based on the latter's real-life days as a young hellion.

Not so successful was The Battle of Shaker Heights, the latest coming-of-age story from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's Project Greenlight machine. Also at five screens, the PG-13 Miramax release averaged $9,539 for $47,693.

This tail end of the summer dumping-ground season meant little change in the top lineup from last weekend.

S.W.A.T., dropped another 42 percent but remained in second place with $10.6 million, bringing the action-heavy cop movie (based on the TV series, now set for revival) to $87.8 million in three weeks of release.

Kevin Costner's earnest western Open Range stayed on a fairly even plain. Remaining in third place, it only dropped 33 percent, earning $9.5 million. It's lassoed $29.2 million in two weeks.

Dropping even less was Disney's mom-daughter switcheroo comedy Freaky Friday, which earned $9.3 million in fourth. The successful remake only lost 31 percent of its previous week's audience, and has now grossed a lively $74.4 million in three weekends.

There was plenty of good news for the Mouse House. The company's very successful summer also includes the still-popular Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Finding Nemo. The former continues its top 10 run, charting at number six with another $7.3 million for a total of $260.9 million. The latter, already the year's biggest film, is now officially the top-grossing 'toon of all time. A few weeks ago, it swam past The Lion King's initial tally from 1994. This week, Nemo sunk Simba's overall total (which includes subsequent rereleases and an Imax version). Although out of the top 10 after 13 weeks of packing 'em in, the fish tale added $1 million to its treasure trove and has now grossed an amazing $329.8 million.

In seventh place, Universal's horse drama Seabiscuit continued to show well, only dropping 24 percent and adding $6.2 million for a five-week gross of $92.9 million. It should gallop past the coveted $100 million mark in the next two weeks.

Overall business was actually well up from last year, where the dog-days butt-end of summer tanked, despite an overall record $3.8 billion for the entire season. The top 12 films this 35th weekend of the year grossed $84.8 million, the lowest tally in almost four months and a significant drop of 36 percent from last weekend, but a gain of 31 percent from 2002.

Next weekend--the Labor Day holiday--marks the official end of summer for the studios. If business is good enough, then the overall gross should be a bit higher than last seaon--but that mainly is due to higher ticket sales as overall attendance is down.

Here's a rundown of the top 10 weekend movies, as compiled by Exhibitor Relations from final studio tallies:

1. Freddy vs. Jason, $13.2 million
2. S.W.A.T., $10.6 million
3. Open Range, $9.5 million
4. Freaky Friday, $9.3 million
5. The Medallion, $8.1 million
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, $7.3 million
7. Seabiscuit, $6.2 million
8. Uptown Girls, $5.6 million
9. American Wedding, $5.5 million
10. My Boss's Daughter, $4.9 million