Screen savers

At the halfway mark, Hollywood is only marginally ahead of its lackluster 2005 in terms of dollars and cents, but studios already are miles ahead in terms of summer hits and misses.

With “Superman Returns” pulling in a solid $84 million in its first five days, movie revenues this year are at $4.6 billion, 5 percent ahead of last year – though, factoring in higher ticket prices, attendance is up just 1.7 percent.

And studios have managed to avoid a repeat of their stinker-of-the-week performance of 2005, when seemingly every Friday brought a big new movie that audiences stayed away from.

Critics and fans alike were turned off last summer by such offerings as the action bombs “Stealth” and “The Island,” the comedies “The Honeymooners,” “Rebound” and “Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo,” the historical epic “Kingdom of Heaven” and the remakes “House of Wax” and “The Bad News Bears.”

Weekend after weekend, the box office was down compared to the previous year – a wake-up call that studios needed to make better movies to compete with consumers’ big-screen televisions, video games and other entertainment choices.

“I do think that everyone puts forth their best effort and takes notice of these things, and absolutely more than ever is committed to making better movies, better stories,” says Rory Bruer, head of distribution at Sony.

This summer’s top-grossing films collectively have brought in revenues about on par with those of last year, though nothing so far has come close to 2005’s biggest hit, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” which took in $380 million.

Summer 2006 has produced two $200-million smashes – “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “The Da Vinci Code” – plus a solid undercard of $100 million hits, including “Cars,” “Over the Hedge” and “The Break-Up.”

Still, there have been disappointments.

Though a sturdy hit, Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible III” will top out domestically at about $135 million – $45 million less than the 1996 original and $80 million behind the 2000 sequel.

Since the film scored generally favorable reviews, the weaker returns apparently had more to do with a backlash against Cruise’s odd behavior regarding his romance with Katie Holmes and his Scientology preaching.

This summer’s only notable commercial duds among big-studio movies have been “Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties” and “Poseidon,” though the latter still has managed to pull in almost $60 million.

Down the homestretch, this summer has a near-certain blockbuster in Johnny Depp’s sequel “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” opening in theaters today, which could become the year’s top-grossing movie if it comes close to matching the $305 million haul of the 2003 original.

There’s a fair lineup of other potential hits, led by Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell’s crime thriller “Miami Vice” (coming July 28).

Competing for the faithful family market are three animated tales: “Monster House” (July 21), “The Ant Bully” (July 28) and “Barnyard” (Aug. 4).

The superhero craze turns lighthearted with Uma Thurman’s comedy “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” (July 21) and Tim Allen’s romp “Zoom” (Aug. 11).

Will Ferrell hits the NASCAR circuit with the comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” (Aug. 4), while Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon aim for laughs in “You, Me and Dupree” (July 14) and the Wayans brothers team up for “Little Man” (July 14).

Also coming are Samuel L. Jackson’s “Snakes on a Plane” (Aug. 18), a midair thriller that began receiving unprecedented Internet buzz long before its release, and the fantasy “Lady in the Water” (July 21) from director M. Night Shyamalan, whose summer hit parade includes “The Sixth Sense” and “Signs.”

“With ‘Superman’ … and ‘Pirates’ right behind it, I think it’ll be a big boost to the box office,” says Dan Fellman, head of distribution at Warner Bros.

“Films are contagious.

“You see one good one, and you want to see another. That’s the trend I think that’s going to happen.”