BOX OFFICE BUZZ BORN TO BE SUPERBAD COMEDY IS TODAY'S TEENS' 'RIDGEMONT HIGH?'.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ

If I hadn't seen it for myself last week, I'd be a lot less bullish on the box office prospects of "Superbad."

But the raunchy comedy, from "Knocked Up" and "The 40 Year Old Virgin" producer Judd Apatow, should really strike a chord with the teen crowd and nail down first place this weekend on its way to the $100 million club.

"Superbad" was written by "Knocked Up" star Seth Rogen, who has a supporting role in the flick. But the real stars are Jonah Hill and Michael Cera, who play high school best buddies experiencing their last summer before going to separate colleges.

The movie has the potential to be this generation's "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" or "American Pie," so I don't want to underestimate its potential. It should have a $25 million- plus debut, displacing the softer-than-expected "Rush Hour 3" and besting other new wide releases "The Invasion" and "The Last Legion."

KIDMAN NOT ALWAYS GOLDEN: Nicole Kidman is an Oscar winner, a three-time Golden Globe recipient and one of the biggest movie stars in the world. But a major summer box office draw?

Not quite.

Think "Bewitched." Think "The Stepford Wives." Think "Eyes Wide Shut." None managed to even reach the $65 million mark domestically, despite heavy marketing pushes and massive amounts of publicity. Kidman did co-star in the $184 million hit "Batman Forever" in 1995 but was not key to that film's success.

With today's release of the Warner Bros. sci-fi thriller "The Invasion," I think Mrs. Keith Urban has an opportunity to have her biggest summer hit as a headliner since her 2001 smash "The Others," which grossed $96.5 million. That, too, was a thriller with an August release date and this time around, Kidman's co-star is James Bond himself, Daniel Craig.

"Invasion" could scare up a $15 million opening.

SERIOUSLY? Like Kidman, Ben Kingsley and Anthony Hopkins are Oscar winners with spotty box office records. Along with Colin Firth, they headline "The Last Legion," a historical epic from The Weinstein Co. that I think won't manage a debut of more than $5 million or so.

Audiences are not in the mood for anything remotely serious this summer as evidenced by fine films like "A Mighty Heart" and "Rescue Dawn" being virtually ignored.

Meanwhile, a silly flick like "Licensed to Wed" has grossed $43 million and counting.

FOR THE RECORD: Despite a lackluster stretch in June, summer 2007 could end up being a revenue record-setter. The biggest summer on record is 2004, when domestic ticket sales between the first weekend of May through Labor Day were $3.93 billion.

As of Sunday, overall summer grosses stood at $3.624 billion, according to box office tracker Media By Numbers. That is 9.42 percent ahead of last year's summer-to-date total of $3.312 billion. Attendance is 4.63 percent of the 2006 summer season.

It has helped that August has been so strong, led by "The Bourne Ultimatum." For the past five weeks, ticket sales have exceeded last year's with the overall box office picture helped immensely by the terrific grosses for "The Bourne Ultimatum," which had the biggest August opening of all time."

[e-mail]

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

(color) Christopher Mintz-Plasse, from left, Jonah Hill and Michael Cera are in for a wild night in the ribald high school comedy "Superbad," which could be in for a tremendous opening weekend.

Melissa Moseley/Columbia Pictures