FILMS A REMEDY FOR WAR FATIGUE.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

This weekend's box office results should serve as a barometer of the nation's need for escapism, judging from patterns observed after 9-11 and the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War.

While there was a sharp slump in movie-going the weekend after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the following 10 weeks broke records, said John Fithian of the North Hollywood-based National Association of Theater Owners.

``I think people stay home and watch the news, and after a certain amount of time, they reach saturation with news watching and they want some entertainment or other distraction,'' said Fithian. ``Movie theaters tend to do very well because they're local, they're easy to get to and they're affordable.''

Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, said the ups and downs of ticket sales are closely tied to the product, regardless of news.

This weekend's new releases include the Chris Rock comedy ``Head of State,'' the John Travolta thriller ``Basic'' and the Hilary Swank disaster flick ``The Core.''

``Who's the most frequent moviegoer? The 18- to 24-year-olds,'' he said. ``Are they the biggest target for the war coverage? I don't think so.''

Marc Berman, who writes the Programming Insider column for Mediaweek, said broadcast television viewership is down noticeably from the comparable week last year, in Los Angeles as with the rest of the country.

While viewers could not get enough of coverage in the first couple of days of the war, they apparently are no longer intent on giving every waking hour to news watching.

Berman said viewers now are looking to broadcast sources for entertainment alternatives, even sitcom reruns, as a respite from 24-hour news.

Thursday night's ratings verified that, with NBC attracting a large number of viewers with repeats of ``Friends,'' ``Will & Grace'' and ``ER.''

Virginia Hunt, programming director for KCBS-TV (Channel 2) and KCAL-TV (Channel 9), said viewers seem happy that the CBS affiliate has for the most part resumed regular programming, which this week includes the NCAA basketball tournament, with regular cut-ins for news updates.

``They do want to know what's going on (with Iraq), and they appreciate that you're keeping them in the loop,'' she said.