Summer movie receipts lag behind 2009

HOLLYWOOD, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- With the summer movie season officially ending Labor Day, overall receipts in U.S. box offices lagged behind the same period last year, a review indicated.

To date, summer box office totals were $4.05 billion compared with the eye-popping, record-breaking $4.19 billion earned in 2009, Variety reported Wednesday.

A review of receipts also indicated admissions were off 2.6 percent from last year, despite a lower average ticket price of $7.88 during the second quarter.

Some box office observers said they expect this weekend's new releases -- including action feature "Machete" and the romantic comedy "Going the Distance" -- will open in the mid-teens. Getting a jump on the Labor Day weekend -- traditionally a slow time for box offices -- was the thriller "The American," which opened Wednesday at 2,721 locations.

"Toy Story 3" and "Iron Man 2" led the summer pack of releases, Variety said. The animated "Toy Story 3" totaled $405.8 million, while "Iron Man 2" racked in $312.1 million.

In the No. 3 spot this summer, was "Eclipse," the third installment of the "Twilight" vampire series, which posted $298.1 million.

Some not-so-hot summer titles include the Tom Cruise-Cameron Diaz vehicle "Knight and Day" and Michael Cera's turn in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World." So far "Knight and Day" accumulated $76 million, while "Scott Pilgrim" took in $26.5 million.