Welcome to one of the slowest box office weekends of the year. You'd think studios would blanket the Labor Day weekend with big-ticket new releases to capitalize on the movie audience's extra day off. But you'd be wrong. The last three end-of-summer No. 1's have been holdovers: ''Bring It On'' (2000), ''The Sixth Sense'' (1999), and ''There's Something About Mary'' (1998). The pattern should continue this year, as multiplex fixtures ''Rush Hour 2'' and ''American Pie 2'' compete again for the top slot.
While ''AP2'' has held the pole position for the last three weekends, it's been extremely close lately between the two comedy sequels. In fact, Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker have seen the grosses for their adult-oriented buddy-cop gags slide less than those for ''Pie'''s teen-sex gags. So look for ''Rush Hour 2'' to reclaim No. 1 with $11-13 million over the four-day weekend, with ''American Pie 2'' coming in a close second with $10-12 million.
Battling it out for the third slot will be two very different horror movies. Nicole Kidman's subtle, word-of-mouth chiller ''The Others'' is performing well after almost a month of release, while the low-buzz new entry ''Jeepers Creepers,'' a straight-up slasher flick that features no big name stars but scores of gruesome corpses, is nevertheless debuting in almost 3,000 theaters. Look for both to scare up about $8-9 million.
And the race to round out the top five will be between the second weekend of ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'' and the debut of ''O,'' the teen ''Othello'' starring Josh Hartnett (''Pearl Harbor''), Mekhi Phifer (''Clockers''), and Julia Stiles (''Save the Last Dance''). Their youthful star power, plus the controversy over setting Shakespeare's racially charged tragedy in a modern high school, has increased the film's profile. But mature subject matter and a fairly small release (only 1,400 theaters) will nevertheless keep its gross down. Look for ''Jay'' and ''O'' to each clock in with $6-8 million.
Next week, I promise to have something interesting to report. The biggest release of the Sept. 7 weekend, ''Rock Star,'' a heavy metal comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and Jennifer Aniston, should officially cure the summertime blues.
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