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Summer's final tally: $4.35 billion

3-D pics lift season to box office record

By DAVE MCNARY

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Final domestic tally on the record-setting summer has come in at $4.35 billion, or 5% ahead of 2008 -- thanks in part to this summer containing an additional weekend.

A moderate Labor Day weekend generated a total of $124.7 million, led by the soph sesh of Warner/New Line's "The Final Destination" with $15.3 million. The holiday frame total was less than $1 million ahead of the 2008 Labor Day.

Year-to-date domestic biz remains well above 2008 at $7.4 billion, or 8.1% ahead of the same point last year.

Even without the additional weekend, the 2009 summer would have still set a domestic record since it topped 2007's record on Aug. 30 and then padded that total for eight more days.

The presence of a trio of 3-D pics -- Disney's "Up" and "G-Force" and Fox's "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" -- helped put the 2009 summer into the record book as each generated about half their revenues from 3-D venues, which charged premium ticket prices.

And the holiday frame capped a stellar summer for Warners, which edged just past $1 billion for a 23.1% market share with 15 titles. The sixth Harry Potter and "The Hangover" brought in 59% of the studio's summer grosses.

Paramount's final tally totaled $884.8 million, for a 20.4% share, with just nine titles. Its "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" accounted for the top gross for a single pic at $400.7 million.

Fox came in third with $652.3 million, or 15.1%, with a leading 17 entries led by "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" at $193.4 million. Disney followed with $612.6 million, or 14.1% with 11 titles, led by "Up" at $290.9 million.

Sony, with only eight pics, finished fifth with $548.3 million for a 12.7% share. Universal wound up far behind with $344.1 million for a 7.9% share.

The Weinstein Co. led the indies with $122.1 million, or 2.8%, from just three titles -- nearly all of that from "Inglourious Basterds" with $95.1 million.