By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Mel Gibson thriller "Signs" recaptured the top slot at the North American weekend box office Sunday, while three new releases tanked and overall sales slumped to their lowest point in almost a year.

With the lucrative summer moviegoing period winding down, the studios have already released all their big guns and are clearing out weaklings to make way for the winter slate of hoped-for hits and awards contenders.

That's good news for strongly performing films such as "Signs," which originally opened at No. 1 four weeks ago before yielding the crown to the Vin Diesel action movie "XXX."

"Signs" earned $14.4 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, as its 24-day total rose to $173.2 million. Gibson plays a widowed clergyman who regains his faith as he saves his family from aliens.

The film, written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, was released by Touchstone Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co.. The company forecasts an eventual total approaching $220 million.

"There is a chord that is being touched, whether it's the spirituality or the crop circles," said Disney domestic distribution president, Chuck Viane. "Whatever it is, it has become part of the public consciousness right now."

After two weekends at No. 1, Diesel's extreme-sports action movie "XXX," slipped to No. 2. It pulled in $13.7 million this time, taking its 17-day haul to $106.7 million. It was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp ( news - web sites).

Studio executives hope it will end up with $150 million, about $6 million more than Diesel's 2001 breakthrough "The Fast and the Furious." Some observers said the film's earnings have not matched the hype.

"I don't think this movie in any way, shape or form has let us down," countered Tom Sherak, a partner in Revolution Studios, the film's Sony-based producer.

The best of the anemic rookies was "Serving Sara," a romantic comedy starring "Friends" actor Matthew Perry and English model/actress Elizabeth Hurley, which opened at No. 6 with $6.1 million.

"We're disappointed," said a spokeswoman for the film's distributor Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc .

That was echoed by a spokesman for New Line Cinema, whose Hollywood satire "Simone," starring Al Pacino, opened at No. 9 with $4.1 million. New Line is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc .

The prison boxing drama "Undisputed," starring Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames, opened one rung higher at No. 8 with $4.7 million. It was released by Disney's Miramax Films unit, which paid just $4.5 million for distribution rights in North America, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

Similarly, Paramount was merely distributing "Serving Sara" for a fee; the film, which cost about $29 million, was produced by Mandalay Pictures, which recently ended its production deal at the studio.

At least the newcomers did better than Eddie Murphy's "The Adventures of Pluto Nash," the biggest flop in years. In its second weekend of release, the $100 million picture grossed $630,000, a 71 percent slide from its opening tally of $2.2 million. The total stands at $3.8 million. It was released by AOL Time Warner's Warner Bros. Pictures.

SALES SLUMP

Overall ticket sales fell for the sixth consecutive weekend when compared with the year-ago periods. According to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 films grossed $63.9 million, the lowest tally since Sept. 21-23 last year.

Things are unlikely to improve over the next few weeks. No major releases are scheduled for the Labor Day holiday next weekend.

Rounding out this weekend's top five, "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams" rose one spot to No. 3 with $7.8 million in its third weekend. Miramax's childrens adventure has earned $58.5 million, and should wind up with $80 million-$85 million, a spokesman said. Its 2001 predecessor grossed $106 million.

The sleeper hit of the year, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" jumped two places to a new high of No. 4 in its 19th weekend. The romantic comedy earned $7.6 million as its total rose to $64 million. It was released by IFC Films, a unit of Rainbow Media Holdings Inc., which is majority owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.

The surf babes-in-bikinis movie "Blue Crush" fell two places to No. 5 in its second weekend with $6.5 million. Its 10-day total rose to $26.4 million, about equal to its production cost. It was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA.

Perry's "Friends" co-star Jennifer Aniston is having better luck in the art house world. Her black comedy "The Good Girl" grossed $1.6 million after adding 128 theaters to its existing total of 60. Currently ranked No. 13, it has a good chance of jumping into the top 10 next weekend when it expands to 600 theaters. The film was released by Fox Searchlight, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the August 23-25 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

1. Signs .......... $14,285,028

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $173,107,735

2. XXX .......... $13,258,453

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $106,264,055

3. Spy Kids 2 .......... $7,588,890

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $58,579,227

4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding .......... $7,261,842

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $63,690,730

5. Blue Crush .......... $6,542,510

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $26,491,250

6. Serving Sara .......... $5,758,236

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $5,758,236

7. Austin Powers in Goldmember .......... $5,543,029

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $193,875,866

8. Undisputed .......... $4,548,750

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $4,548,750

9. Simone .......... $3,813,463

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $3,813,463

10. Blood Work .......... $2,840,880

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $20,209,097

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  The end of August means lots of movies being released that no one cares about even the studios.  Neither Matthew Perry, Wesley Snipes, or Rachel Roberts' lips were enough to attract massive amounts of moviegoers.  Somehow, Signs returned to the top spot beating the exalted Vin Diesel's over hyped mayhem.  Let's try to figure out what went wrong this week.

Serving Sara is about a process server played by Matthew Perry who somehow gets corralled into sharing the wealth of Elizabeth Hurley's divorce settlement from Bruce Campbell.  This movie had a pretty anemic trailer with only one slightly amusing moment when Hurley showed her panties.  Perry seems to be channeling Chandler once again as you try to figure out in which scenes he was the most wasted.  Perry checked himself into rehab during filming because he drinks more Jack Daniels than Evian.  There is also this feeling that all Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley movies suck.  That is unfair since "The Whole Nine Yards" and "Passenger 57" are two of my favorite movies.  I can never stress this enough, it is all about the premise.  If your premise sucks, then there better be about 5 different parts of the film that can get a response during a 2 minute and 10 second preview.  Saying a mobster is not fat enough, inseminating a cow, saying Cedric the Entertainer's suit sarcastically looks good, and seeing Hurley expose her breasts to the motel clerk and knowing the theater viewer will not be seeing anything because PG-13 movies don't show nudity anymore keeps everyone but close family members of the cast away.  I am upset that Bruce Campbell ended up in this since he is the most underrated actor out there.  Fortunately most people won't notice that the king of the Evil Dead even is a part of this film.  TV stars are constantly trying to become movie stars and very few make it, but there are 2 ways to have a chance.  Make sure your television show is no longer on the air with new episodes.  If your show is still on the air then you must play a character that is unlike your television persona.  People won't pay for what they get for free.  However, if your show is off the air then it is best that you play a character similar to your idiot box version since people will miss the show and want to see that incarnation again even at cost.  Perry keeps screwing this formula up.  Hurley never gets respect because there is definitely something wrong with her since Hugh Grant risked his career to cheat on her.  Her deep British accent is also quite annoying to listen to for more than 10 seconds at a time.  She should stick with Estee Lauder or at least Bedazzled 2.  

Undisputed is a movie that is trying to play off the legacy of Mike Tyson as a former boxing heavyweight champion incarcerated for rape.  In real life, Tyson missed going to the Olympics in 1984, hooked up with Cus Damato, became the most dominant boxer since Ali, became the youngest heavyweight champion of all time, unified the titles by destroying Michael Spinks creating the "I've been ripped off for the last time ppv," let Barbara Walters end his marriage, lost to a 15 to 1 underdog, met the Miss Black America pageant contestants, had rough sex with a potential finalist, did not stop when she said so, charged with rape, convicted of rape, did his time, came out, regained the title, lost the title, bit off a piece of an ear, got suspended, became the catalyst for the resurgence of the then World Wrestling Federation now World Wrestling Entertainment, got reinstated, beat up some scrubs, and then got jabbed to obscurity and the bargain bin of video game stores.  That is real life.  Movies should not even attempt to mimic the tragic story of Mike Tyson.  Wesley Snipes plays a man who is sent to prison for murder and Ving Rhames is sent to jail for rape.  They both happen to be world class boxers and their jealousy of each other has to be decided in a steel cage to the finish in the state prison.  Okay, that could happen.  Movies don't even try to be realistic anymore.  I guess it would be like if Tyson had fought Michael Dokes in a hell in the cell at San Quentin.  Snipes and Rhames are pretty good actors who have established themselves as being above such trite looking films as Undisputed.  The all important trailer is okay and the quick cuts of their actual fight are pretty cool, but it also gives away too much of the fight.  Cutting away before the first punch was thrown would have been more interesting.  The bitch slap by Rhames to Snipes is the best part of the preview and almost was enough to get me to see it.  Of the new films, Undisputed had the best per screen average since it did have the more interesting plot.  Peter Falk shows up as the incarcerated promoter who sets up the fight to get the biggest pay day in boxing history.  Wow, a steel cage prison boxing match is able to get about $35 million a piece for each boxer?  I guess fiction is stranger than truth.

And then there is S1M0NE, AKA Simulation One.  Writer/director has an obsession with altered reality as shown in Truman Show and now this Al Pacino movie about a director who can no longer handle a real actress so he creates an artificial one.  No one seems to know that Simone is fake due to convoluted ways to keep the press and the public in the dark about her origins like having only pre-taped interviews and only filming her acting scenes in private to be inserted later.  Her mystery is what starts the national obsession with her.  I guess Julia Roberts was sick that day when they were casting for this movie.  Rachel Roberts plays the simulated thespian, but before this movie was released we were supposed to believe that it was actually a fully computerized figure not based on an actual person much like the actors in the Final Fantasy movie of last year.  Poor Rachel could not even put the movie on her resume until it was released to sell the secret.  Now, I doubt she will bother to add it since no one seems to care to see a movie about making movies.  Also, if you have seen any parts with Simone "acting" or "conversing" with people in the movie, you can tell why Roberts should stick with the print ads and not the moving image.  Her deadpan delivery would never get over if something like this could even be accomplished.  Female monotones are very hard to hear, and hers is terrible.  When it comes to movie stars, the general public are very interested in how they live and what they do when they are not boring us with their so called acting talent.  Jennifer Aniston may grimace too much as an actress, but she married Brad Pitt so we tolerate her a bit more.  The scene where Simone does not answer personal questions since she does not think people would be interested in her life just because she has a movie coming out.  That standard cliched comment is why an Al Pacino movie opened to less than $4 million that was as hyped as this one.  If the trailers had shown a Simone that was a bit more interactive and lively, then it could have attracted a broader audience.  My suggestion is for filmmakers to stop making movies about making movies.  I personally can't stand that and books where the main character is trying to write a book, even though the Shining was pretty good.  Just make the movie.  Leave the behind the scenes stuff to E!, Entertainment Tonight, and Access Hollywood.  Saying that we are so superficial that all we need is a fake face with bloated lips to interest us mus not have seen the box office take of Angelina Jolie's last movie.  To sell the unreal, it has to look real.  S1M0NE appears to be too fake for its own good.

REST OF THE TOP 10 IN 10:

1.    I picked Signs as the best movie of 2002, and it looks like I am not the only one who thinks that as it has returned to the top spot after taking time off to laugh at Vin Diesel.

2.    At the rate things are going, Signs could be number one for another 2 weeks straight.

3.    xXx is okay as an action movie, but because it lacked anything resembling coherence, word of mouth has failed to make it the blockbuster many thought it would be.

4.    Spy Kids is holding up pretty well and is the beneficiary of a lack of competition.

5.    If Signs falters, I see My Big Fat Greek Wedding sneaking up higher to the top spot to shock the entire film industry.

6.   One day small independent films will be in more theaters sooner to capitalize on the amazing word of mouth that ones like Greek Wedding have received.

7.    Blue Crush has fallen quite a bit from last week as its lack of substance has hurt it like so many other all concept and no plot has done to others.

8.    Mike Myers should do another Austin Powers movie where he takes on Dieter from Sprockets and they have a dance off where the winner gets to rule the world.

9.    The loser of the dance off can then have to spend 2 hours in a tub with Simon and look at his bum while watching Linda Richman on the telly.  

10.    With Blood Work barely reaching $20 million it looks like Eastwood's new film did not uh... work.

The future of next week's box office doing any better than this week's looks dim.  It is going to be a rough September with Swimfan getting the most attention.  Bye for now.