(CBS/AP) The latest new films couldn't scare two horror movie legends out of first place at the weekend box office.

A weak batch of new movies made easy prey for "Freddy vs. Jason," which took in $13.45 million to remain the No. 1 weekend flick, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Freddy vs. Jason," a blood feud between the villains of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Friday the 13th," was the first movie to retain the top spot for two straight weekends since "X2: X-Men United" in early May.

On The Early Show Box Office Plus segment, People magazine senior editor Jess Cagle said Freddy and Jason got lucky. "Number one," he explained, "it opened very well last weekend and was a surprise because it was an R-rated movie. Then, there was no competition this weekend."

The year's top-grossing movie, "Finding Nemo," debuted at No. 1 in late May, slipped to second place the next weekend, then regained the top box-office spot in its third weekend.

"Finding Nemo" took in $1 million this past weekend, pushing its total domestic gross to $329.8 million. It has surpassed "The Lion King" ($328.5 million) as the top-grossing animated movie ever.

The weekend haul for "Freddy vs. Jason" raised its 10-day total to $61.5 million.

The best debut among new movies was for Jackie Chan's action comedy "The Medallion," which opened in fifth place with $8.2 million. Ashton Kutcher's romantic comedy "My Boss's Daughter" opened in 10th place with $5 million.

Executives of "The Medallion" distributor Sony and of "My Boss's Daughter" distributor Dimension Films said the movies were cheap enough that they still will turn small profits.

The Lisa Kudrow-Damon Wayans comedy "Marci X," which sat for more than a year on Paramount's shelves, opened with a dismal $865,000. The studio dumped it into a modest 1,200 theaters to boost its eventual home-video prospects.

Cagle says "Marci X" is poor "even by the standards of the 'Friends' movies, which tend not to be great. ('Marci X') was basically disowned by everybody involved, and Paramount had written it off."

In general, movies during the summer of 2003 carried big stars and a lot of hype. But there were some bombs anyway.

No movie had more hype than "Gigli" starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, yet that movie didn't do well, and neither did the "Charlie's Angels" sequel.

Explains Cagle, "I think audiences, even if they are interested in watching a TV special with Ben and J.Lo, or buying a magazine with Ashton Kutcher on the cover, they are not going to spend the money to see a bad movie. So hype does not equal box office success."

Even with the weak slate of new movies, overall revenues were up sharply. The top 12 movies took in $86.2 million, up 33 percent from the same weekend last year, when box-office receipts petered out in a late-summer swoon.

Revenues this year from early May through Labor Day should wind up squeaking past Hollywood's record $3.8 billion haul in summer 2002, Dergarabedian said. But that reflects higher ticket prices and actual admissions this summer will be 3 to 4 percent lower, he said.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

1. "Freddy vs. Jason," $13.45 million.

2. "S.W.A.T." $10.8 million.

3 (tie). "Freaky Friday," $9.4 million.

3 (tie). "Open Range," $9.4 million.

5. "The Medallion," $8.2 million.

6. "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," $7.3 million.

7. "Seabiscuit," $6.3 million.

8. "Uptown Girls," $5.6 million

9. "American Wedding," $5.58 million.

10. "My Boss's Daughter," $5 million.

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