ENDLESS BUMMER SUMMER WRAPS UP WITH WINNER, ALTHOUGH TOTALS STILL LAGGING.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

The surprise success of the 20th Century Fox release ``Transporter 2'' allowed the movie industry to end a troubled summer at the box office on a rare high note.

With a four-day total of $20.1 million, ``Transporter 2'' set a record for the biggest Labor Day weekend opening in history, according to final figures released Tuesday.

Unfortunately for Hollywood, that bit of history was too little too late to save the 2005 summer movie season.

In the end, attendance for the months that typically account for about 40 percent of the year's entire box office haul lagged behind 2004 by nearly 12 percent. Revenue finished at $3.6 billion, down 9.04 percent from last year, when the 2004 crop of summer movies grossed $3.95 billion, according to the box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.

``Thank God, it's over,'' said John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners. ``But our business is very cyclical, and we've been through these cycles many times in our history and things will rebuild with good product.''

In all, there were only four weekends out of 16 during the summer season that grosses surpassed the total of the same weekend the previous year.

What has become clear is that this was the summer when moviegoers made clear that they were willing to stay home and watch DVDs or play video games if the movies being offered at the megaplex are not appealing.

At the same time, audiences were still willing to camp out in lines for a movie like ``Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith'' and kept well- reviewed movies like ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,'' ``Batman Begins'' and ``Wedding Crashers'' in the top five for weeks on end through positive word of mouth.

``You can't make a blanket statement that people don't want to go to the movies anymore,'' said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``But people are becoming very discerning about the movies they choose. When a movie resonates with them, they'll go.''

``Sith'' was the summer's single all-time hit, with the final chapter in the six-part franchise heading toward the $380 million mark in domestic grosses, seventh-place on the list of highest-grossing films in history.

But only three other films had crossed the $200 million mark - and not by much in two cases - by Labor Day. ``War of the Worlds,'' starring Tom Cruise and directed by Steven Spielberg, took in $230 million, while ``Batman Begins'' and ``Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' had taken in $203 million and $201 million, respectively.

But the comedy smash ``Wedding Crashers'' was at $195.7 million as of Monday and should easily cross the $200 million milestone before the end of its run.

Four other films - ``Madagascar,'' ``Mr. & Mrs. Smith,'' ``The Longest Yard'' and ``Fantastic Four'' - were the only other titles that managed to take in $150 million or more.

Jane Fonda's comeback comedy ``Monster-in-Law,'' co-starring Jennifer Lopez, was a surprise early summer hit ($82.9 million); the documentary ``March of the Penguins'' continues to shatter expectations ($63.4 million); and the comedy ``The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' is shaping up to be a major hit with a gross of $71.9 million in just three weeks.

But such would-be blockbusters ``The Island,'' ``Stealth,'' ``Kingdom of Heaven'' and ``XXX: State of the Union'' downright bombed, as did many other less ambitious studio efforts.

Further, the summer slump made it open season for many to complain about premovie commercials, cell phones ringing in theaters and the high price of movie tickets and concessions.

But Fithian said the same situation was in place a year ago, when there was a record summer on the strength of such hits as ``Shrek 2,'' ``Spider- Man 2,'' ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' and ``The Day After Tomorrow.''

``We are creating policies to crack down on rude patron behavior, and we are aware of all the other issues,'' he said. ``It's been a down year, but I think stronger admissions are just around the corner.''

Greg Hernandez, [phone]

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) no caption (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith)

(2 -- color) no caption (Batman Begins)

Box:

Endless Bummer 

Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.

Jon Gerung/Staff Artist