By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Yeah, baby!

That sophisticated spy Austin Powers and his cadre of evil villains grooved to the top of the North American weekend box office with a record breaking bow of $71.5 million, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

"Austin Powers in Goldmember," the third installment in Canadian actor Mike Myers' spy spoof series, ranks as the best July opening ever, the best comedy opening and the best opening for both Myers and the studio, New Line Cinema.

The tally represents ticket sales for the three days beginning July 26, and ranks fifth among the the best box office openings of all time. Receipts of $3.5 million from Thursday sneak previews take the total to $75 million.

Last weekend's box office champion, "Road to Perdition," fell to No. 2 with $11 million for the three-day period. The Tom Hanks gangster drama has pulled in $65.6 million after 17 days in release. It was released in North America by closely held DreamWorks SKG.

Rounding out the top five: the disappointing talking-mouse adventure "Stuart Little 2" with $10.7 million in its second weekend; the hit sci-fi sequel "Men in Black II" with $8.7 million in its fourth; and the sub-par Harrison Ford maritime thriller "K-19: The Widowmaker" with $7.3 million in its second.

The dynamic bow for "Austin Powers" could not prevent receipts for the top 12 films from falling about seven percent from the same weekend last year to $133 million, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

This marks the second "down" weekend, in a row after six "consecutive "up" weekends. Year-to-date, receipts are still ahead of last year's record pace, but observers noted that remaining summer big guns like next weekend's Mel Gibson thriller "Signs" and the following weekend's Vin Diesel action flick "XXX" will be up against last year's hit comedies "Rush Hour 2" and "American Pie 2," respectively.

THIRD-BEST OF 2002

The only films this year to open better than "Austin Powers" were "Spider-Man" with $114.8 million and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" with $80 million.

Like its predecessors, "Austin Powers" stars Myers as both the heroic spy and numerous villains, including Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and the new arrival Johann van der Smut (a Dutchman also known as Goldmember). Michael Caine and Beyonce Knowles of R&B trio Destiny's Child co-star. Several A-list Hollywood celebrities make cameo appearances.

Jay Roach returned as director.

The movie delivers "more of the same, but better," said Rolf Mittweg, president of worldwide marketing and distribution for for New Line, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc..

"I think Mike Myers and his team, they know this genre so well. I don't think anybody in the world of comedy can touch him," Mittweg added.

Although the film is supposed to be the final leg of a trilogy, Mittweg noted that "the numbers will beg for another one." He added however that no plans are afoot, and Myers and Roach both have busy schedules.

The previous best July opening was the "Planet of the Apes" update, which bowed this time last year with with $68.5 million. "Rush Hour 2" held the records for best comedy and best New Line opening at $67.4 million. Myers' previous best opening was with the second "Austin Powers" film, "The Spy Who Shagged Me," which brought in $54.9 million in 1999. It ended up with $205.4 million.

The top 10 movies included one other new release, the Walt Disney Co. children's adventure "The Country Bears," based on a Walt Disney World attraction. The low-budget film opened at No. 6 with just $5.2 million, in line with the studio's modest expectations.

'WEDDING' WONDERFUL

The hit arthouse film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," made the top 10 for the second time in its 15 weekends of release. It grossed $3 million, good enough for the last spot, as its total rose to $35 million. The film was released by IFC Films, which is ultimately owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.

"Stuart Little 2" (Columbia Pictures) has earned $34.8 million after 10 days, but will perform considerably less well than its 1999 predecessor, which ended up with $140 million.

The film, which reportedly cost about $120 million to make, should reach $80 million, said Jeff Blake, the Sony Corp ( news - web sites). -owned studio's president of worldwide marketing and distribution.

The prognosis is similarly bleak for Ford's "K-19," which cost about $100 million. After 10 days, the Paramount Pictures film has earned just $25 million. Its 43 percent drop was one of the biggest in the top 10. Executives from the Viacom Inc. -owned studio were not available for comment. The project was developed by Intermedia Films, a unit of Germany's IM Internationalmedia AG.

Columbia's Blake said "Men in Black II" should reach $200 million. The Will Smith- Tommy Lee Jones comedy has pulled in $173.6 million so far. Its 1997 predecessor made $251 million.

Reuters/Variety

The top movies in North America -- July 26-28

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the July 26-28 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross

1. Austin Powers in Goldmember .......... $73,071,188

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $76,624,907

2. Road to Perdition .......... $11,106,213

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $65,647,145

3. Stuart Little 2 .......... $10,612,127

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $34,724,638

4. Men in Black II $ .......... 8,477,202

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $173,380,738

5. K-19: The Widowmaker .......... $7,266,631

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $24,961,696

6. The Country Bears .......... $5,309,675

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $5,309,675

7. Mr. Deeds .......... $4,247,371

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $116,163,991

8. Reign of Fire .......... $3,469,035

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $36,406,517

9. Minority Report .......... $3,124,360

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $123,375,096

10. My Big Fat Greek Wedding .......... $3,004,597

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $35,417,552

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  I think there was little confusion this week with the release of Austin Powers in Goldmember with the James Bond classic, Goldfinger, or even Man With the Golden Gun as pretty much everyone who went to see Goldmember knew what they were in for.  The thing that fascinates me about the Austin movies is that if it was not for home video, especially DVD, and cable, the last 2 movies would never have been made.  Word of mouth caused Mike Myers to have one of the most successful ex Saturday Night Live cast member careers ever.  The first movie barely made $53 million and was generally ignored when it was released and Myers was still on Saturday Night Live at the time.  It's retro time traveling silliness did not seem to be understood by the general public.  In fact, I didn't get either as I found the first film to be slow and unfunny.  But then I started hearing people yelling "yeah baby" on the radio, various television shows, and the street corners.  I could not believe people were quoting Austin Powers International Man of Mystery.  After the 100th "should we shag now or should we shag later" crack I watched the movie again and laughed my left buttock off.  It took two viewings to "get it."  Dr. Evil is one of best characters to come out of the 1990s or sixties for that matter.  Comedians love to play multiple characters in film from Jerry Lewis, Peter Sellers, Eddie Murphy, to even Dana Carvey, it is a long tradition.  Myers is able to make Powers and Evil so different that it almost seems as if 2 different actors are portraying the parts.  This movie also was one of the first DVDs that had multiple extra features and help sell a lot of players.  When The Spy Who Shagged Me was released in 1999, people couldn't wait for the next adventure and the film did what no other sequel  has ever really done and that is gross more in its first 3 days of release than the first movie made in its entire domestic run.  Shagged Me is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen and its $205 million box office showed that many people agreed with me.  It is derided by many people, but eff them.  Mini Me, Heather Graham, and shadows all rule in that movie.  A third Powers movie would have a lot to live up to and I was very concerned after seeing the trailers that it would fall short.  My review follows up next.

AUSTIN POWERS IN GOLDMEMBER - FULL REVIEW

Austin Powers International Man of Mystery had Mike Myers play 2 different characters, Austin Powers and Dr. Evil.  Austin Powers in the Spy Who Shagged Me had Myers play those 2 as well as Fat Bastard the overweight child of non married parents.  So, in the new film, Austin Powers in Goldmember, Myers has to play four people including the previous three and now his newest creation, the evil rollerskating Dutchman, Goldmember.  After 2 super characters in Austin and Evil, a fairly amusing Grossbergian Fat Bastard, Myers has foul tipped a bit with Goldmember. This new movie rarely tries to out do the first two in comic originality.  Most of the gags that do work are variations on ones done in Man of Mystery and Shagged Me like the shadowplay, urine jokes, and a pinky to the side of the mouth. This movie suffers from third movie disease where people now feel excited about being in the movie and it distracts from the comedy when actors look like they are in the movie because they are fans of the earlier films.  Cameos by so called "big named" Hollywood stars show up for little reason throughout the film, and part of the publicity was for critics to not reveal who the main ones are to keep the surprise.  Most of the bit parts have little to do with anything and are mainly their for the shock value.  Since spoiling movies is fun to piss people off I will say to look for moments with Britney Spears, Nathan Lane, and Ozzy Osbourne.  Those are the three best known ones that don't expose anything that would ruin the film.  I will say that the main stars are in the first 10 minutes, after that no cameo has any impact until the very end.  Goldmember the movie has the same problems the entire series has had and that is not knowing when to end a joke and too many reaction shots.  The director Jay Roach always likes to keep a joke going about a minute or two past the point of true annoyance.  Flatulence and peeing are his favorite gags to have go on forever and ever and ever and ever. Also, the whole "oh my god, he has a giant mole on his face" gag goes on so long that the characters in the movie start complaining.  Reaction shots are a Austin Powers trademark.  Whenever an obvious joke happens Roach cuts to another person who raises their eyebrows or shrugs their shoulders in confusion as if they are the audience watching it in the theater.  These would not be so bad if the editing was a better, but each reactionary moment looks like they filmed it 2 months after the gag.  Timing is very key in getting humor across, and it is blown many times in this film.  To me, comedy is funnier when the people in the comedy don't think anything is funny like in the "Airplane!" movies where all of the jokes were told with a straight face causing you to laugh harder.  I have also learned that fake pee is funnier than real pee.  For example when a person in the movie is really urinating, it is more disturbing to watch than funny.  But when it looks like someone is doing number one and it actually something else, that is funnier.  After seeing Goldmember, I may never drink apple juice again.  There are seven main characters in Austin Powers in Goldmember and 4 of them are played by Mike Myers.  Let's see how they did.  Myers is very talented, but he is beginning to wear out his welcome as Austin and Dr. Evil.  Austin "Danger is my middle name" Powers is a classic bumbling spy who somehow trips his way through life while still being able to shag the birds.  Austin should be the star and get the best lines, but as usual Dr. Evil steals the show.  After five minutes of Austin, you are wishing for the movie to get back to more of Evil's nefarious plans to get "millions of dollars."  You want to cheer Dr. Evil because he is so funny with his voice, look, and general confusion about modern life.  However, Evil is not at his best in this movie.  There are no classic lines like "zip it" or "throw me a frickin' bone here."  If you had not seen the other films, Dr. Evil would not be funny at all.  A good example of this is the standard Evil and his son Scott verbal confrontation.  In Austin 1, they argued about the merits of elaborate traps vs just shooting your adversaries.  In Austin 2 we had the memorable zip it retorts.  I guess the writers could not think of anything for this movie so here is a summary of their confrontation: "Blaaah, maahyy, zypppa, aahhhh."  Just gibberish and very unfunny.  The only slightly saving grace is that Scott Evil finally makes an attempt to get to know his father in this one to some fairly amusing and obvious results.  Their relationship is key to the success of the series and it deteriorated here.  Myers' Fat Bastard shows up in a few scenes but was really unnecessary.  The odd thing is that Myers played the character shirtless and pantless for most of the scenes meaning he had to wear the full body makeup.  I can't even comprehend the hell he must have gone through.  Listening to his Fat Bastard voice, reminds me of something very similar that I can't seem to place my... oh yeah, he is basically doing Shrek the whole time.  Stick with the cartoons for the Irish brogue.  The final Myers character is Goldmember himself and this was a big disappointment.  Nothing is done to make Goldmember stand out as a threat or someone that a whole movie should revolve around.  Goldmember has about 12 minutes of significant screen time and is never funny unless he shows off how he can lift his leg above his head and that got old as well.  Myers has said in interviews that Goldmember was based on him trying to come up with a character who is from another country that no one has had any problems with so as not to offend anyone.  In the process Myers ended up offending everyone for making someone who sucks.  The biggest surprise to me in the film is the performance of Beyonce Knowles as Foxy Cleopatra better known as That 70s Spy.  She is Austin Powers sidekick and love interest which doesn't make some since since Austin was frozen in 1967 and Beyonce is 20 years old in 1975, so that makes Austin a child molester or Beyonce is playing a character 10 years older than she really is.  Regardless of the age confusion, Knowles does a good job in this film.  She is very attractive in her various outfits and works well with Myers.  My only problem with her isn't really her fault.  The script never gives her any real funny moments.  She just has to react to Austin doing crazy things.  There are a few bits here and there like her yelling "Shazam" and her various physical encounters with Goldmember, but overall, she never gets to show off any comedic talent.  But she looks really really good and is a great followup to the hotties Elizabeth Hurley and Heather Graham.  Oscar winner, Michael Caine plays Austin's neglectful father who is a bigger shagger than his son.  Caine gets to have some fun here that he usually does not have in his movies but he still just seems to be going  through the motions.  There are some flashbacks to when Austin and Dr. Evil were young kids and there is a clip that shows a very young Michael Caine.  The makers of the movie did not use some weird young age makeup, it was actually a clip of an 1967 movie called "Hurry Sundown."  Just a little trivia for those who care.  For the most part, Austin Powers in Goldmember was a disappointment and worthy of a bad review.  However, the makers of the film knew they had a clunker on their hands and there was only one way to save the movie.  Add more Mini-Me.  Verne Troyer is your thief of the week as he steals every moment he appears on camera.  With almost no dialogue Troyer commands the several minutes he is on screen.  His ghetto walk, his broken bottle fight, his leg humping, his birth, his impersonation of Austin's penis (don't ask), and his eating habits are all hilarious.  Without him, this movie would have been severely lacking entertainment.  The plot of Goldmember makes little sense when Dr. Evil wants to create a tractor beam based on a design that Goldmember created in 1975 which somehow leads to the kidnapping of Nigel Powers forcing Austin to go to the 1970s to rescue him and meet up with the love child of Foxy Brown and Cleopatra Jones.  It seems that a lot of parts were edited out of the movie because it feels a bit uneven and some early reviews have made reference to things that are not in the final cut.  Looks like I will have to get the DVD to find out the whole story.  The ending of the film wraps up several loose ends and this could easily be the last Austin Powers movie.  An opening is left for a sequel, and with the box office of this movie looking like another $200 million hit, that opening will most likely be acted upon.  I just hope if they make a fourth Austin Powers, Will Ferrell can come back as Mustafa since he was no where to be found in "Goldmember."  Final Review:  2 1/2 stars out of 5; 5 1/2 out of 10; B-; thumbs up.  The worst of the 3, but funny enough to see if you have seen the first two.  Hope the next one is better.

REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:

1.    Road to Perdition may be the lowest grossing Tom Hanks star vehicle since Philadelphia.

2.    Stuart Little 2 is not doing as well as the first one was doing at this point in time in its cinematic run.

3.    Men in Black II has made a lot of money but it still cost almost $200 million to produce and market.

4.    K-19: the Widowmaker may be a bomb for Harrison Ford, but it is about the 4th or 5th highest grossing Liam Neeson movie.

5.    The Country Bears is based on a Disney World attraction where a family of bears play musical instruments.

6.    It is sad when the animatronic bears look more realistic than the ones in the live action movie.

7.    When critics complain about the quality of movies this Summer, for some reason Mr. Deeds comes up as an example of the "dreck" that teenagers are going to see while more quality films get ignored whatever those might be.

8.    Reign of Fire will not reign much longer in the top ten.

9.    The good thing about Minority Report having about 3 different endings is that a sequel becomes unnecessary.

10.    My Big Fat Greek wedding has a very poor theater release, but somehow keeps hanging around the top 15 movies at the box office, which means that the distributors and marketers should get off their bums and put the movie in more cineplexes and have more commercials on "Friends" and "Dog Eat Dog."

My favorite East Indian director, Manoj Nelliyattu  "Night" Shyamalan, returns with his take on those mysterious crop circles in the movie "Signs."  Will they be created by aliens or bored teenagers with some rope and four foot by four foot piece of wood and a rope?  Mel Gibson replaces Bruce Willis as the man in danger.  Dana Carvey also returns after a long hiatus recovering from botched heart surgery in "The Master of Disguise."  I doubt his buddy Mike Myers has anything to worry about competition wise.  Bye for now.