BLACK TO BLACK A STREAM OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN FILMS DOMINATES THIS SUMMER'S BOX OFFICE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

``Nutty Professor II: The Klumps'' opens today, and it's expected to be a substantial hit. Not only is it a sequel to the blockbuster 1996 summer comedy, it stars Eddie Murphy, who despite sporadic career slumps can claim one of the best box office records of the past 18 years.

But there's one other factor, one that wasn't built into the project's commercial profile from the start, which may now contribute to what's shaping up as a ``Klump'' kind of weekend. Unlike ever before in movie history, the lucrative summer season has been exceptionally receptive to African-American movies this year.

Three features starring and/or made by African-American talent have already shot through the traditional grosses ceiling for black films. The Martin Lawrence-starring ``Big Momma's House'' is the first $100 million-plus performer in the former sitcom star's career. His asking price, consequently, recently rose to a whopping $16.5 million for his next project, ``Black Knight.''

At $68 million, ``Shaft,'' the blaxploitation action classic remake, has shot well ahead of top-billed Samuel L. Jackson's other solo starring vehicles, made more than director John Singleton's previous personal best ``Boyz N the Hood'' and just surpassed the box office take of ``Waiting to Exhale,'' until this year the highest-grossing all-African-American feature not starring Murphy.

Most spectacularly of all, earlier this month Keenen Ivory Wayans' multiracial horror film spoof ``Scary Movie'' enjoyed the biggest opening weekend ($42 million) for any R-rated film in history. At $116 million and counting, ``Scary'' has already outperformed each of the ``Scream'' movies it satirizes and will likely become the highest-grossing release ever for its distributor, Miramax Films.

``This proves that emotions and comedy are universal, they're totally colorless,'' notes Marlon Wayans, who co-wrote and co-starred in his brother's monster hit. `` 'Shaft' and 'Big Momma's House' grossing the money they did, that's a wonderful thing.

``This movie was made by black filmmakers, but it was not a 'black' film,'' Marlon adds about ``Scary.'' ``It's just a movie and, hopefully, this will help black filmmakers in just doing movies that can gross big money and reach a broad audience. That's what we were trying to do.''

Spokespeople for Hollywood's talent unions concur.

``The fact that some of this summer's biggest box office hits were directed by individuals who are members of an ethnic minority group should not come as a surprise to anyone,'' says Directors Guild of America president Jack Shea. ``For many years, the DGA has urged employers to improve their records on employment diversity because it is good business to do so, and the current box office numbers only validate that position.''

And Patricia Heisser Metoyer, director of affirmative action with the Screen Actors Guild, believes a new level of black inclusion has been reached by the film industry.

``It's not a quirk; I think it will continue,'' she says. ``One of the things that they've seen is that African-American performers are marketable. Now, it's not just Eddie Murphy or Will Smith. If there's a good story and you have competent, skilled performers, the box office drive's there. The Guild is real encouraged by this.''

Of course, there have been big African-American film successes in the past. Danny Glover has broken the bank with the four ``Lethal Weapon'' films, as did Richard Pryor in Sidney Poitier's ``Stir Crazy'' (the highest-grossing black-directed film until this year) and Chris Tucker in ``Rush Hour.'' But all of those movies were buddy comedies that teamed the black actors with co-stars of another race.

In a similar way, Whitney Houston's biggest hit, ``The Bodyguard,'' was a romance with Kevin Costner. Will Smith's blockbusters have been multiracial ensemble pieces, while Denzel Washington's highest grossers have co-starred Julia Roberts, Tom Hanks or Gene Hackman. Whoopi Goldberg's comedy smash ``Sister Act'' featured a mostly white supporting cast, and her hit historical drama, ``The Color Purple,'' was directed by Steven Spielberg.

Even Murphy, the one superstar exception to Hollywood's race rule, got his big-screen start in the salt-and-pepper buddy films ``48HRS.'' and ``Trading Places.''

But you can bet Hollywood has noticed that things have changed.

``This shows that African-Americans can bring bankability, can bring cachet and, at the end of the day, can bring the numbers to the theaters,'' observes Holly Davis, principal agent of Agency West Entertainment, a company that specializes in transitioning music artists into film and television work. ``And I'm absolutely seeing the effects of that. I represent (rapper) Master P, and we're going to be in production in four or five months on two projects back-to-back. That's because the appetite and the climate has adjusted to African-American product.''

Adds Mark Gill, president of Miramax Los Angeles, ``Back in 1991, 'Boyz N the Hood' and 'New Jack City' were described as ushering in the Black New Wave. What I think you're seeing now is that wave coming of age and, consequently, doing better than it ever has. John Singleton getting a chance to make 'Shaft,' and Keenen Ivory Wayans making a movie that turns out to be a blockbuster, is a function of the number of people who have been at it and the amount of time they've been doing it. Sooner or later, it was bound to happen.''

Despite the current rosy outlook, however, the success of this summer's films doesn't necessarily indicate that mainstream audiences have had a complete change of heart after exhibiting a pattern of self-segregation throughout both the blaxploitation film cycle of the early 1970s and the first dozen or so years of the new black cinema.

``We've been waiting for the day when this would happen in our industry, but I think we may need some more evidence before we can be sure that it's arrived,'' observes Marc Shmuger, president of marketing for Universal Pictures, the studio that owns the ``Nutty Professor'' franchise.

``I think each of the successes of an African-American movie this summer came about from the individual strengths of that particular film. 'Shaft' looked really cool to the audience, and 'Big Momma' and 'Scary Movie' looked incredibly funny to them, and I think 'The Klumps' has huge appeal to both an African-American audience and a non-African-American audience.

``But I don't know if that means that you can rely on the potential of an African-American movie to be a hit with greater certainty now than you could six months or a year ago,'' Shmuger adds.

``But in all the cases we've mentioned, the concept and package were larger than the color of the star, and that's probably a lesson that we're all going to keep in mind as we continue to make and market films in the future.''

Agent Davis agrees that marketing was key to this summer's successes. ``Had they marketed 'Waiting to Exhale' to everybody as a film with universal issues and values that transcend, it would have performed far better,'' she notes.

But others caution against reducing the distinctive nature of African- American cinema to sales strategies and marketing plans.

``I'm very happy for the Wayanses, their success,'' says Spike Lee, who initiated the modern African-American cinema with ``She's Gotta Have It'' in 1986 and whose latest feature, the concert film ``The Original Kings of Comedy,'' opens Aug. 18. ``I hope that people really give them the credit they deserve and not just say it was the marketing of Miramax. I hope they get their props.''

Lee's own prolific but commercially unspectacular career has, for the most part, been about making racially provocative dramas. And even though his new concert film is reportedly a laugh riot, the groundbreaking director worries that clownishness may be a price of mainstream popularity.

``I think it's great, but at the same time, I think African-Americans are bunched in,'' Lee observes. ``Y'know, we've gotta laugh, sing and dance. I would just like to see a greater breadth of our experience. There's nothing wrong with comedy, but I'm just saying that I'd like to see more diversity in the films that are made.''

But even the often contentious Lee is, for the most part, encouraged by what he sees these days.

``If one film succeeds, it makes it better for everybody else,'' he acknowledges. ``If you win, we all win. 'Scary Movie' was a huge hit; Eddie's movie's going to be big; this movie is gonna be big - it's all a process of everybody trying to collectively just go up.''

``I think it's a good thing,'' understates ``Scary'' director Keenen Ivory Wayans. ``The more that we get away from looking at things one-dimensionally, the better and the more creative that the work is going to be.

``Added voices enrich. Frankly, I'm lovin' it.''

Staff Writer Sandra Barrera contributed to this story.

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Eddie Murphy in ``Nutty Professor''

(2) Eddie Murphy is five-sixths of the action in this scene from ``Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,'' in which Murphy plays every character except Ernie Jr., played by Jamal Mixon, left rear.

(3) Martin Lawrence, right, gets in touch with his older feminine side in the comedy ``Big Momma's House,'' co-starring Nia Long, left, and Jascha Washington.

(4) Jon Abrahams, left, Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans have a laugh in the raunchy gross-out comedy ``Scary Movie.''

(5) Gloria Reuben shares a private moment with ``the man who won't cop out,'' Samuel L. Jackson, in the remake of ``Shaft.''