Steven Spielberg's latest batch of ETs put a world of hurt on the holiday box office.

War of the Worlds, the Spielberg-Tom Cruise reinvention of the classic H.G. Wells alien-invasion saga, laid waste to all rivals, grossing $64.9 from Friday to Sunday and $77.1 million over the full four-day holiday weekend, bringing its six-day total to $112.7 million.

The tallies represented personal bests for director, star and distributor, Paramount Studios, but couldn't do much to bust the long-running and much ballyhooed box-office slump of '05.

Per the receipt trackers at Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 movies grossed $133.7 million over the three-day period, down 16 percent from 2004's $158.4 million, and $160 million over the four-day July Fourth holiday, down 24 percent from 2004's $212.8 million. Of course, last year's hit parade was led by Spider-Man 2, which snared a record-setting $88.1 million over three days and $115.8 over four, for a six-day gross of $180 million.

War of the Worlds was no slouch. Although finishing well behind the webslinger, War surpassed other July Fourth alien action biggies--Men in Black II, Men in Black and Independence Day--on the all-time list.

And over-all business was hardly weak. It will probably end up being the third biggest Independence Day holiday. "Objectively speaking this is a really strong, solid Fourth of July weekend, yet again the perception is there that we are in this major downturn--and we are, we have to acknowledge it--and when that becomes the emphasis rather than the movies that's not a good thing," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations.

For its part, Paramount didn't sound too concerned about the slump, er, downturn.

"This is the best opening in Paramount's history on several fronts--single day, three day, four day, etc. for both Paramount and Tom Cruise. It's the fastest film to get to $100 million for both Cruise and Paramount and also Spielberg," Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen trumpeted.

"This was expected to be one of the bigger movies of the summer and, of course, there was a lot of attention paid to Tom Cruise and his recent exposure in the press," added Dergarabedian, who wouldn't hazard a guess about whether Cruise's headline-making antics, including his Oprah couch-hopping love declaration and subsequent engagement to Katie Holmes or his ongoing rants about Brooke Shields' antidepressants, helped or hurt the film's bottom line. But he did say, "I think Paramount did a great job marketing. It's not just about Tom Cruise. Steven Spielberg's name brings in a lot of people."

The audience was initially more male than female, but by Saturday it was 50-50. On Wednesday polls showed 48 percent were over 25, but by Saturday 64 percent fell into that demographic.

The PG-13 movie, in which Cruise's divorced dad and his kids (Dakota Fanning and Justin Chatwin) try to survive the arrival of some belligerent monsters from space, played in 3,908 theaters, where it had a four-day average of $19,719. It earned $21.9 million Friday, $23.7 million Saturday, $19.8 million Sunday and $12.2 million Monday--traditionally a day when families are more concerned about back-yard barbecues and fireworks displays than hitting the local megalplex. Overseas the movie took in an additional $102.5 million.

Most of the other studios steered clear of War. Fox, which is holding back its would-be action blockbuster Fantastic Four until next weekend, did bounce Rebound into 2,464 theaters. But the Martin Lawrence basketball comedy shot an air ball, landing down in seventh. "Unfortunately it didn't work," acknowledged Fox distribution head Bruce Snyder, who had been hoping the family film would make around $10 million, but ended up with only $6 million from Saturday through Monday, from a per-site average of just $2,436.

Fox had better luck with its leftovers. Mr. and Mrs. Smith only dropped 37 percent from the previous week and finished in third place with $12.7 million over the four-day period. Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith (which offered a four-for-three "May the Fourth be with you" ticket deal), fell just 33 percent, with $5 million in eighth place for the holiday. The Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie caper has now grossed a picture-perfect $146.1 million, and George Lucas' final space-opera installment has reached Death Star proportions, $366.5 million.

In second place, after two weeks on top, Warners' Batman Begins earned $19.3 million over the four-day period, off 43 percent from last week. The latest Caped Crusader adventure now stands at $154.8 million.

In its second week, Bewitched lost what little magic it had, falling 55 percent to $11.1 million in fourth. Herbie: Fully Loaded managed to put along, however, down just 32 percent to $10.8 million in fifth. But George A. Romero's Land of the Dead appeared to be on life support, down 74 percent to $3.3 million in 10th.

Another zombie foray, Undead, opened to deadly business. The Lions Gate release about meteorites turning plain folks into flesh-craving creepies averaged $4,926 at two sites to open with $9,851 from Friday through Monday.

Here are the Friday-Sunday (and Friday-Monday) for the top 10 films, based on final studio figures released Tuesday and compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. War of the Worlds, $64.9 million ($77.1 million)
2. Batman Begins, $15.6 million ($19.3 million)
3. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, $10.6 million ($12.7 million)
4. Bewitched, $9.2 million ($11.1 million)
5. Herbie: Fully Loaded, $8.8 million ($10.8 million)
6. Madagascar, $5.4 million ($6.7 million)
7. Rebound, $5 million ($6 million)
8. Star Wars: Episode III--Revenge of the Sith, $4.1 million ($5 million)
9. The Longest Yard, $3.3 million ($4 million)
10. The Land of the Dead, $2.7 million ($3.3 million)