SUMMER SAILS THROUGH INDUSTRY RECOUPS A BIT FROM 2005 SLUMP.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

Tom cruised way off course, Meryl sewed up her biggest hit ever, the ``Poseidon'' sank, but Depp rode a tidal wave toward box-office history.

It was a summer movie season that saw the movie industry recover, somewhat, from last year's slump with a projected $3.85 million in revenue, up an estimated 6.32 percent over 2005.

Meanwhile, attendance surpassed 582 million -- up by a projected 3.11 percent, according to figures from box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co.

``I think the industry and moviegoers should be very satisfied but after the dismal summer of 2005, pretty much anything would look good,'' said Exhibitor Relations Co. President Paul Dergarabedian.

Disney's ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,'' starring Johnny Depp, led the way, shattering many records, including having the biggest opening weekend in history. With a domestic gross of $407.5 million as of Sunday, ``Pirates'' is the sixth-highest grossing movie of all time.

``It was expected to be the biggest movie of the summer, if not the year, but to see it all unfold was so impressive,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo.

The official summer season began at the start of May and runs through Labor Day weekend. The hit movies may have helped the movie industry save face, but it will still finish lower than the record 2004 ($3.95 billion) as well as 2003 ($3.87 billion) and will barely surpass 2002 ($3.79 billion).

While 2005 had an inordinate number of big-budget bombs, including ``The Island,'' ``Stealth,'' ``Kingdom of Heaven'' and ``XXX: State of the Union,'' 2006 was not immune from expensive mega-flops.

``On paper, the biggest losers were `Poseidon' and `Miami Vice,' based on what the studios reported their budgets at and what they grossed domestically,'' Gray said. ``They came to be the summer's biggest losers.''

``Pirates'' propelled Disney through a charmed summer that had the studio claim the No. 2 summer spot with the Pixar Animation title ``Cars,'' which grossed $245 million domestically. Disney also had an unexpectedly strong result with the dance hit ``Step Up'' and the sports drama ``Invincible,'' which opened in first place last weekend.

But Sony Pictures Entertainment also had an excellent run with the religious-thriller ``The Da Vinci Code,'' which was a big hit domestically ($217.2 million) and an even bigger hit in foreign markets ($535.6 million).

```Da Vinci Code' overperformed,'' said Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. ``This is a film that had tremendous worldwide appeal. I don't think Sony could have asked for any more out of that picture, especially since the reviews were lukewarm at best.''

Sony also scored with the comedies ``Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby'' and ``Click,'' which both made north of $100 million. Sony's only real mishap was the Tim Allen movie ``Zoom,'' which barely managed to crack the $10 million mark.

For 20th Century Fox, the big boost came from ``X-Men: The Last Stand,'' which took in a terrific $233.5 million. Then there was ``The Devil Wears Prada,'' the movie version of the best-selling book that featured what many consider to be the finest performance of Meryl Streep's distinguished career.

```Devil' was expected to do well but when it crossed the $100 million mark, that was unexpected,'' Gray said. ``That was one of the success stories of the summer, given how it was counter-programming to open opposite `Superman Returns.' It appealed to an audience that tends to be ignored in the summer: adults and women.''

But Fox had its share of duds with ``My Super Ex-Girlfriend'' and ``Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties'' both bombing out and ``John Tucker Must Die'' not doing much better.

But Fox's specialty division, Fox Searchlight, released the word-of-mouth hit of the summer in ``Little Miss Sunshine.'' The film has eased its way into wide release, finished in third place last weekend and has grossed $22 million to date with plenty of momentum heading into the fall.

``Superman Returns'' nearly reached $200 million and was the bright spot of the summer for Warner Bros., which had high-profile films ``Poseidon,'' M. Night Shyamalan's ``Lady in the Water'' and the animated ``The Ant Bully'' all tank.

``Shyamalan was damaged goods after `The Village,' that damaged his brand,'' Gray said of the writer-director of ``Lady,'' whose previous hits included ``The Sixth Sense'' and ``Signs.''

Paramount Pictures had expected a far bigger jumpstart to the summer season than it got from ``Mission: Impossible III,'' a sequel starring Tom Cruise that took in $133 million. By summer's end, Cruise and Paramount had parted ways, ending a 14-year production partnership.

```Mission: Impossible III' definitely should have grossed more,'' Pandya said. ``I think all the negative publicity around Tom Cruise and his personal life hurt the movie at the box office. There were a lot of people who came out for the first two ``Mission: Impossible'' films who felt like they saw enough of this guy in newspapers and magazines and on TV. They just didn't want to pay money to see him even more.''

But Paramount did manage another $100 million-plus grosser with ``Over the Hedge,'' which out-performed ``M:I3.'' The studio also had a decent hit with the comedy ``Nacho Libre,'' which took in more than $80 million.

Universal scored with the Jennifer Aniston-Vince Vaughn romantic comedy ``The Break-Up,'' which exceeded expectations and made nearly $120 million.

But Universal had no other big break-out hits, with ``Miami Vice,'' ``You, Me and Dupree,'' and ``The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'' all finishing in the $60 million to $70 million range.

The thriller ``Snakes on a Plane'' had been the focus of Internet buzz for about a year before its Aug. 18 opening. But the New Line Cinema release didn't even reach the most conservative of predictions with a two-week total of $26.5 million.

``The hype was never real,'' said Gray. ``It was a small group of people riffing on the movies' title and the media picking up on it. It was never a phenomenon amongst a large amount of moviegoers.''

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 4 -- color) no caption (movies)

Box:

Top 10 domestic grossers this summer