‘Dodgeball’ bombards box office

Los Angeles — Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn buried Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg under a barrage of red rubber balls.

Stiller and Vaughn’s “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” debuted as the weekend’s top movie with $30 million, whipping Hanks and Spielberg’s “The Terminal,” which opened at No. 2 with $18.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Dodgeball” stars Vaughn as a gym owner whose squad of geeks and losers tries to save their destitute health club in a dodgeball showdown against rival bully Stiller’s team.

Other estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.:

3. “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” $17.4 million.

4. “Shrek 2,” $13.6 million.

5. “Garfield: The Movie,” $11 million.

6. “The Stepford Wives,” $9.2 million.

Almost famous

Lexington, K.Y. — The chance to appear for a fleeting moment in a Cameron Crowe film generated enough buzz to attract hundreds to a recent casting call in Kentucky.

As many as 1,300 people showed up Saturday at a Lexington hotel in hopes of landing roles as extras in Crowe’s new movie, “Elizabethtown,” starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst.

Filming begins next month, but unlike “Seabiscuit” — which was filmed in central Kentucky in 2002 — no scenes will require thousands of extras.

“I wouldn’t take anything for the experience I had with ‘Seabiscuit,”‘ said David Hereford, 70, who appeared as an extra.

Crowe’s box-office hits include “Almost Famous,” “Jerry Maguire” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

Out of the house

Los Angeles — After a nearly 10-year hiatus, erstwhile “Full House” star Lori Loughlin is back on the small screen.

Loughlin, 39, stars in WB’s “Summerland,” playing the role of a fashion designer who must suddenly take over as mom for her sister’s three children after her sibling dies in a car accident.

The show, created for Spelling Television, will be Loughlin’s first regular gig since “Full House” ended its nine-year run in 1995.

In the intervening years, Loughlin married fashion mogul Mossimo Giannulli and had two children, Isabella, 5, and Olivia, 4.