The summer's also over, which means the inevitable dumping of oft-delayed studio flicks for the sole purpose of making a quick killing.

Exhibit No. 1: The Adventures of Pluto Nash. Eddie Murphy's sci-fi spoof got pushed back to 2002 from its original April 6, 2001, berth to avoid conflicting with Dr. Dolittle 2. This lunar version of Casablanca pits Murphy's nightclub owner against the moon's mob.

Murphy's revitalized his career in the mid-1990s when he began churning out family-friendly comedies and lending his voice to animated romps. Pluto Nash's certainly doesn't arrive with the same anticipation as Murphy's Nutty Professor or Dr. Dolittle remakes and sequels. Nor does it bode well that Warner Bros. is releasing Pluto Nash during the dog days of summer, one week after Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams, without the benefit of press screenings. A bad sign if ever there was one ...

Still, Murphy should charm enough families to prevent Pluto Nash from becoming a disaster on the scale of 1998's Holy Man ($5.1 million opening, $12 million total). Blasting into 2,320 theaters, Pluto Nash should settle for an opening somewhere between Metro's $11.4 million and Showtime's $15 million. A fast fade awaits, so Pluto Nash will find itself stranded on the moon with about $30 million, or substantially less that the lackluster $37.9 million captured earlier this year by Showtime. Murphy will find greater success in November when he returns with another remake, November's big-screen version of I Spy.

The Cortez siblings of Spy Kids 2 clearly amused many children whose parents thought better of taking them to see xXx. But Spy Kids 2 is going to rank among the long line of this summer's underachieving sequels. Spy Kids 2 midweek opening proved beneficial, as it earned $8.3 million prior to its first weekend haul of $16.7 million, for a total of $25 million. Its strong weekday tallies bring its seven-day total to $32.8 million through Wednesday. Spy Kids, though, managed a superior $26.5 million debut, and ended its first full week with a total $31.2 million. It also reaped a second weekend of $17 million for a $48.2 million.

By matching Spy Kids' 35.6 percent second-weekend decline in business, Spy Kids 2 would only earn $10.8 million, bringing its total to a possible $46 million through Sunday. That wouldn't beat Spy Kids' third weekend take of $12.5 million.

Spy Kids 2 also faces a considerable drop in weekday business as school resumes. Accordingly, Spy Kids 2 is headed toward a $70 million total. That's significantly less than Spy Kids' $112.6 million, but almost enough to justify director Robert Rodriguez's mandate to have Spy Kids 3 in theaters by next summer.

As expected, Pistachio Disguisey and his talent for mimicry proved no match against the Cortez family's flair to save the world from certain disaster. Master of Disguise, Dana Carvey's comeback of sorts, plummeted an appalling 58 percent in its second weekend, from $12.5 million to $5.1 million. The family comedy might have displayed more endurance had it not opened one week before Spy Kids 2. Still, with $26.3 million through Wednesday, Master of Disguise represents Carvey's biggest solo success.

Stuart Little 2 squeaked by with just $2.6 million in its fourth weekend, down 56 percent from $6.1 million. The sequel to the 1999 live-action/animated smash has just $54.5 million through Wednesday, and won't even make half of its predecessor's $140 million total.

Goldmember continues its rapid descent, proving that its second-weekend drop of 57 percent was no fluke. The third Austin Powers farce plunged 58 percent in its third weekend, from $31.1 million to $13 million. Still, Goldmember has $173.6 million through Wednesday vs. $157.7 million that Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me made during the same 20 days in release. Goldmember should muster enough mojo to equal The Spy Who Shagged Me's $206 million total.

Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat also fell by 58 percent in its second weekend, from $7.3 million to $3.1 million. Playing at just 774 theaters, Runteldat isn't shaping up to be a concert hit on the scale of The Original Kings of Comedy ($38.1 million). However, with $14 million through Wednesday, Runteldat will at least make almost double that of Lawrence's last concert film, You So Crazy ($10.1 million).