Hollywood tops $4B for summer

? Hollywood notched its first $4 billion summer as teen geeks helped Hollywood end the season in record fashion.

Sony’s “Superbad,” the comedy about three dorky high-schoolers trying to score booze for a party, was the No. 1 movie for a second straight weekend with $18 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The movie raised its 10-day total to $68.6 million.

“Superbad” was on its way to $100 million, an unusual accomplishment for a movie with no big stars.

Though business is slowing down as parents and students prepare for a new school year, Hollywood continued its summer hot streak. The top 12 movies took in $90.2 million, up 7 percent from the same weekend last year, when “Invincible” opened at No. 1 with $17 million.

Overall, Hollywood crossed the $4 billion mark for the summer season. The figure topped the $3.95 billion set in 2004, according to box office tracker Media By Numbers.

Movies will have grossed about $4.15 billion by the time the season ends on Labor Day, up 8 percent from last summer, estimated Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.

Factoring in higher admission prices, Media By Numbers estimated about 606 million movie tickets will have been sold this summer – a solid figure but only the sixth-best for modern Hollywood.

The best summer in recent times was in 2002, when 653.4 million tickets were sold.

The weekend’s top debuts were Universal’s “Mr. Bean’s Holiday” and Lionsgate’s “War.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released today.

  1. Superbad,” $18 million..
  2. The Bourne Ultimatum,” $12.4 million..
  3. Rush Hour 3,” $12.3 million..
  4. Mr. Bean’s Holiday,” $10.1 million..
  5. War,” $10 million..
  6. The Nanny Diaries,” $7.8 million..
  7. The Simpsons Movie,” $4.4 million..
  8. Stardust,” $4 million..
  9. Hairspray,” $3.5 million..
  10. The Invasion,” $3.1 million..