By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Explosions, excitement and extreme sports combined for an excellent box office debut for "XXX," a thriller starring nascent action hero Vin Diesel.

According to studio estimates issued Sunday, the film grossed $46 million in its first three days of release in North American movie theaters beginning Aug. 9.

It sent last weekend's box office champ, the Mel Gibson supernatural drama "Signs," to the No. 2 slot with $30 million for the weekend.

Two other films debuted in the top 10. The children's adventure "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams" opened at No. 3 with a solid $17.0 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period. Actor and director Clint Eastwood's thriller "Blood Work" opened at No. 5 with a disappointing $7.2 million.

"XXX" stars the muscular, chrome-domed Diesel as a thrill junkie drafted into service as a secret agent who must stop renegade Russians from destroying the world. Samuel L. Jackson co-stars as his hard-nosed boss, and New Zealander Marton Csokas as the chief Russian villain.

The massively hyped film was directed by Rob Cohen, who teamed with Diesel for "The Fast and Furious," which opened to $40 million in June 2001. The pair will reunite for a "XXX" sequel targeted for a summer 2004 release, said Tom Sherak, a partner at the film's producer, Revolution Studios. Diesel's $10 million paycheck will double for the sequel, said Sherak.

KIDS DIG "XXX"

About 60 percent of the "XXX" audience was aged under 25, said Jeff Blake, president of worldwide marketing and distribution at Columbia Pictures. Sony Corp ( news - web sites). distributes Revolution's films.

With most of the big summer releases out of the way, the aim for the coming weekends is to keep "XXX" at No. 1, Blake and Sherak said. To bring in older viewers, they will tweak the marketing campaign to focus on positive reviews.

Diesel's firepower was not enough to prevent receipts for the top 12 films posting their fourth consecutive year-on-year decline. According to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 grossed $134 million, down five percent from last weekend and nine percent lower than last year, when "American Pie 2" opened at No. 1 with $45 million.

Wide new releases next weekend include the Eddie Murphy comedy "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" and the babes-in-bikinis surf movie "Blue Crush."

The 10-day total for "Signs," written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan of "Sixth Sense" fame, rose to $118.3 million. The film, in which Gibson plays a clergyman who defends his family from aliens, was released by Touchstone Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co. It passed the century mark Saturday, tying the nine-day company record of "Pearl Harbor" and "Monsters, Inc."

Disney's Dimension Films unit released "Spy Kids 2," a follow-up to last year's surprise hit. That film opened at No. 1 with $26 million and spent three weeks on top during the quiet April period. The sequel opened on a Wednesday, and its five-day total stands at $25 million. A studio spokesman said the $38 million-budgeted sequel rated stronger in exit surveys than the original. Both were directed by Robert Rodriguez.

"POWERS" REACHES $168 MILLION

The two rookies pushed "Austin Powers in Goldmember" down two places to No. 4 in its third weekend. The 18-day total for the Mike Myers spy spoof rose to $167.8 million. It was released by New Line Cinema, a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc. .

Corporate sibling Warner Bros. Pictures released "Blood Work," in which 72-year-old Eastwood plays an FBI ( news - web sites) agent who returns from retirement to solve a case. The film, budgeted at under $40 million, attracted a primarily older audience, said Dan Fellman, the studio's distribution president.

In the limited release arena, "24 Hour Party People" pulled in a promising $34,000 from two New York theaters. The film, which revolves around the music scene in the English city of Manchester, was released by United Artists, the arthouse banner of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

"The Good Girl," starring "Friends" actress Jennifer Aniston, grossed $148,700 from two theaters each in New York and Los Angeles. The sterling $37,000 screen average set a record for its distributor, Fox Searchlight, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc. The romantic comedy expands to 55 theaters in 18 markets next weekend, a spokesman said.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the August 9-11 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross

1. XXX .......... $44,506,103

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $44,506,103

2. Signs .......... $29,454,603

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $117,718,640

3. Spy Kids 2 .......... $16,711,716

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $25,040,870

4. Austin Powers in Goldmember .......... $13,059,448

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $167,779,791

5. Blood Work .......... $7,312,413

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $7,312,413

6. The Master of Disguise .......... $5,107,640

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $23,762,214

7. Road to Perdition .......... $4,203,196

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $84,275,972

8. My Big Fat Greek Wedding .......... $3,133,316

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $45,063,980

9. Martin Lawrence ... Runteldat .......... $3,124,258

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $13,134,620

10. Stuart Little 2 .......... $2,675,155

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $53,001,249

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  After a quick start, the Summer box office is slowing down a bit.  Vin Diesel is back in what could be considered his 6th best movie after Saving Private Ryan, Iron Giant, Pitch Black, Boiler Room, and The Fast and the Furious.  XXX's problem is that everytime kids tried to search for the website, the parental cyber blocks kept popping up.  So about 10% of its promotional muscle was stymied by an overly cute screenwriter who watched too much "Threes Company."  Forty Four million dollars is a good opening, but a $55 million to $65 million was preferred especially since Diesel is looking to get $20 million for the sequel.  More on XXX in the full review.  Spy Kids 2 opened to less business than the first movie mainly because its promotion was pretty poor.  It seems that Robert Rodriguez was trying to pay homage to Sinbad and Jason and the Argonaut movies forgetting that going into the full fantasy mode does not look right in a real world setting.  Plus, since Rodriguez hates to spend money on his movies and he only has so much hemoglobin to give, the green screen and CGI effects look pretty cheesy.  Blood Work is a victim of bad timing where real life serial killers are making the news in much more dramatic ways than a Clint Eastwood movie showing how the former action superstar is getting a bit too old to chase the bad guys.  

XXX - FULL REVIEW

The United States has been trying to have its own James Bond like mega series for years, but can never get it to last past 2 or 3 movies.  The Indiana Jones movies came to be when Stephen Spielberg was denied the opportunity to direct a Bond movie and for nearly a decade the three Indy movies outgrossed the entire run of Roger Moore movies.  Bruce Willis, Arnold, Sly, and now Duane "The Rock" Johnson have tried or are trying to be the next big thing in action movies.  All have had various success but the old guard is fading the new guys have yet to prove themselves.  Diesel is a possible solution, but after XXX, it looks like James Bond 20 will have little to worry about later this year.  XXX tells the story of Xander Cage (Diesel), extreme sports madman who likes to make political statements about video game and music censorship by stealing the cars of senators and driving them off of bridges.  One day, Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) decides it's time to get some new blood in the secret agent business.  The old school tuxedo wearing, suave, debonair, shaken not stirred type does not fit in the tattooed, heavy metal, rap, mullet wearing antiestablishimentdisentarianism types wrecking havoc on "cinematic" society.  If James Bond existed in real life, he would stick out like a leper in a nudist colony and get smoked in two seconds.  Gibbons needs a good guy who looks just like the bad guys.   Cage fits the profile and is strong armed into becoming a secret agent with all of the trappings and benefits.  After a couple of try out missions Cage is given the assignment to find out what ex Russian military madman Yorgi (Martin Csokas) is up to.  I figure it has to do with taking over the world in some outrageously convoluted scheme that is doomed to fail.  Yorgi wastes all his time developing bio weapons when he runs a really successful rave night club in Prague.  The life he wants to lead after dropping his bomb he lives now so why do it?  The Man would stay out of his way if he just minded his own business. But, if he did not have nefarious motives, there would be no movie, so it has to be accepted.  The problem with XXX is that it is pretty pointless.  Every 5 to 10 minutes there is some fancy action sequence that always has one shot where Diesel's stuntman forgets to lower his head so you don't see his face and lots of things blow up and every once in a while a bad guy dies.  Movies like this need a strong villain and a hero you can root for, but Xander and Yorgi have little to get one excited about.  The bridge stunt to show off Xander's wild side is stupid because when he jumps out of the car in mid air you realize that if it was not filmed in slow motion there would be no way for him to accomplish the feat in real time.  Right off the bat, credibility is sacrificed.  And when Xander goes into action mode, fortunately some form of extreme sport prop is handy to use to beat the villains like a motor cross bike, snowboard, or serving tray to grind on.  It is silly, but some of the scenes do work in a wow way like the avalanche chase that rivals any of the old ski chases from the bond movies.  But, the motor cross sequence and the ending action scene go on too long and are poorly directed.  Vin Diesel does what he can in the role and looks legit as a bad ass, but most of his one liners expose his lack of timing.  No catchphrases are coming out of this flick.  He is playing almost the same exact character from The Fast and the Furious.  In fact, this movie could have been called The Fast and the Furious 2.  If you want to see Diesel give a good performance as an action anti-hero then rent Pitch Black wher he played someone much more interesting.  Sam Jackson has fun as the "M" of XXX and gets to have an untold back story of how half of his face is scarred up.  XXX 2 should answer those questions.  Asia Argento is the femme fatale Yelena who keeps getting in Xander's way while he tries to save the world.  Argento is attractive in a Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice sort of way but is given little to do but stare out into space most of the time.  She is supposed to be a tough girl, but it is never shown.  Csokas dull as Yorgi, and his big "talking villain" speech reminded me of Stallone's Perestroika rant at the end of Rocky IV.  Goldfinger he is not.  As an exciting movie, XXX succeeds.  It is never boring, just stupid.  A better Xander characterization, stronger villains, and some action sequences that abide by the rules of physics would help in a sequel.  As it stands now, this movie seemed a bit rushed and is too much of a star vehicle instead of just being an entertaining film.  Turn off the thought synapses in your brain and XXX is a good time at the cineplex.   Five minutes after leaving the theater, you might forget why you left the house in the first place.  Final Review:  2 1/2 stars out of 5; 5 1/2 out of 10; C+; thumbs down.  

REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:

1.    Signs, signs, everywhere the signs show that if you are an alien race that gets severe burning sensations when in contact with H2O, it is a good idea to avoid a place that is made up of over 70% water.

2.    It is good to know that Ricardo Montalban is still able to perform even though he is confined to a wheelchair due to severe back problems.

3.    A third Spy Kids is in the works and has to be done fairly quickly because Alexa Vega is starting to look older than Carla Gugino who plays her mom in the movies.

4.    With the less than mega blockbuster status of Goldmember, it may be time for Austin Powers to zip it.

5.    It is sad to see a guy like Clint Eastwood playing a part that exposes his own real life weaknesses in continuing to portray cops.

6.   At least you can say that Master of Disguise is doing much better than Clean Slate.

7.    What is Hollywood's fascination with the glorification of the hitman?

8.    I'm surprised the makers of My Big Fat Greek Wedding were allowed to get away with that title knowing how sensitive wedding planners can be.

9.    Run tell Martin Lawrence to stop being so crazy, and get back to entertaining instead of bitching about being hassled all of the time.

10.    Looks like Stuart Little is no longer the mouse that roared at the box office.

Next week we have lots of new releases coming out but none are getting much attention except for maybe Blue Crush.  I guess Gidget was sick that day.  Matthew Perry tries to continue his film career with Serving Sara.  To me it looks like he will be signing an extension on his Friends contract.  Undisputed and S1m0ne are going to try to sneak into the top ten, but it will be a bigger trick than trying to harpoon a bomb boat headed toward Prague.  Oh, and don't forget that my girl Gwyneth Paltrow returns to her roots and breaks out her 4th or 5th British accent in the multi time love story, Possession.  After seeing the list of new releases, it looks like I will spending my time in other places besides movie theaters.  Bye for now.