By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian David Spade (news) was the top draw at the weekend box office in North America, albeit with the lowest grossing new No. 1 film since early 2000 as overall ticket sales suffered a seasonal slide.

Spade's showbusiness satire "Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star" opened at No. 1 with estimated ticket sales of $7 million for the three days since Sept. 5, said its distributor, Paramount Pictures.

Last weekend's champion, the teen horror "Jeepers Creepers 2" (United Artists) slipped to No. 2 with $6.7 million.

The top 10 contained one other new entry, "The Order" (20th Century Fox), a thriller starring Australian actor Heath Ledger (news) as a priest, which opened at No. 6 with $4.3 million.

The weekend following the U.S. Labor Day holiday is traditionally one of the slowest of the year: the studios unleashed all their big guns in the summer and are preparing to release the prestige films they hope will be awards magnets.

Sales for the top 12 films totaled $50.9 million, the lowest tally since Sept. 21-23, 2001 ($43.5 million), according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

Business should perk up next weekend with the arrival of the Nicolas Cage (news) crime caper "Matchstick Men," director Robert Rodriguez (news)' Mexican Western "Once Upon A Time in Mexico," and the gory creepfest "Cabin Fever."

Rounding out this weekend's top five were the Johnny Depp (news) swashbuckler "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (Walt Disney Pictures) at No. 3 with $5.5 million; the Jamie Lee Curtis (news) comedy "Freaky Friday" (Walt Disney Pictures) with $5.1 million; and the cop thriller "S.W.A.T." (Columbia Pictures) with $4.6 million.

SPADE ENDS 7-YEAR DROUGHT

"Dickie Roberts" sets several milestones. The last movie to open at No. 1 with a lower sum was the Ashley Judd (news) thriller "Eye of the Beholder" with $6.0 million in January 2000; it marks Spade's first No. 1 movie since "Black Sheep," his 1996 collaboration with Chris Farley (news); and it is also Paramount's first No. 1 since "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days" in February.

Spade plays a former child star, reduced to working as a parking valet, who tries to recapture the idyllic childhood he never had by moving in with a suburban family. "Dickie" boasts cameos by an assortment of former child stars, including alumni from "The Brady Bunch" and "The Partridge Family."

The film cost under $20 million to make, opened within modest expectations, and played well with families, said Wayne Lewellen, president of distribution at Paramount, which is owned by Viacom Inc .

The opening for "The Order" was "disappointing but not shocking," said Bruce Snyder, president of distribution at Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc . The film wrapped almost 18 months ago, but underwent extensive post-production because the special effects were not scary enough.

Meanwhile, "Pirates of the Caribbean" passed "The Matrix Reloaded" to become the No. 2 movie of the year, with $282 million banked so far. "Finding Nemo," also released by Walt Disney Co., is tops with more than $330 million.

After two weekends, "Jeepers Creepers 2" has earned $27.4 million. Its distributor, United Artists, is a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc .

The respective totals for "Freaky Friday" and "S.W.A.T." rose to $97.2 million and $108.8 million, both after five weekends. Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news) (news - web sites) .

1. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star .......... $6,660,540

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,660,540

2. Jeepers Creepers 2 .......... $6,562,008

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $27,282,853

3. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl $5,271,528

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $281,831,452

4. Freaky Friday .......... $5,040,247

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $97,082,820

5. S.W.A.T. .......... $4,570,388

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $108,784,017

6. The Order .......... $4,438,899

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $4,438,899

7. Open Range .......... $4,202,447

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $49,308,750

8. Seabiscuit .......... $3,705,320

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $109,642,685

9. Freddy vs. Jason NL $3,243,261

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $78,349,963

10. Uptown Girls .......... $2,466,987

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $33,584,221

John L.: Poor showing this week as Dickie Roberts reaches the top by default. David Spade is talented, and has some clever ideas but not even a lawsuit from the makers of Slip N Slide can get people to rush out to see washed up child actors. The Order finally gets released and is sentenced to the depths of Hell. The trailer was somewhat interesting, but if you want to see anti Catholic rhetoric, just watch the news and its diocese reports. Next week I'll have more of a report, but as of now, bye.