Weekend box office

The “Summer of the Sequels” marches on but there are ominous signs that moviegoers are less than thrilled with what’s being offered. “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” opened to an unspectacular $37.6 million, despite the high level of hype surrounding the “event” movie. “The Hulk” opened big a week earlier, but then saw ticket sales plummet 70%. “Dumb and Dumberer” tanked. Box-office revenues for the year are down 4% and movie attendance is off 8%. The past three weekends are also down compared to last summer.

Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., said attention now turns to the next high-profile sequels, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” and “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde,” which open Wednesday. In the current environment, “Bad Boys II,” which opens July 18, has also become a question mark rather than an exclamation point.

“This is the summer when the sequel will be severely tested,” Dergarabedian said. “So far, we’re in a slump. There is a malaise in the industry.”

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*--* MOVIE 3-DAY GROSS TOTAL VENUES AVG/VENUE WEEKS (MILL IONS)

1.Charlie’s Angels: $37.6 $37.6 3,459 $10,880 1 Full Throttle (Sony)

2.The Hulk $18.8 $100.6 3,674 $5,130 2 (Universal)

3.Finding Nemo $14.0 $254.0 3,333 $4,191 5 (Buena Vista)

4.28 Days Later $10.1 $10.1 1,260 $7,986 1 (Fox Searchlight)

5. 2 Fast 2 Furious $6.23 $114.0 2,817 $2,210 4 (Universal)

6. Bruce Almighty $6.19 $221.3 2,651 $2,335 6 (Universal)

7. The Italian Job $5.5 $76.8 2,021 $2,703 5 (Paramount)

8. Rugrats Go Wild $3.6 $31.0 3,008 $1,210 3 (Paramount)

9. Hollywood Homicide $3.1 $27.3 2,425 $1,262 3 (Sony/Revolution)

10. Alex & Emma $2.6 $11.5 2,310 $1,135 2 (Warner Bros.)

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Source: Exhibitor Relations Co.