ODD SCRIPT TO SUMMER FILM SEASON

What a summer.

The movie season started with audiences running away from Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman, and only got more peculiar as the months wore on.

It was boom time in the theaters, with huge numbers of tickets sold. But there were hardly any smash hits--even though some movies seemed to keep doing business forever.

(“I don’t think I can recall a summer when pictures just held on like this,” says Warner Bros. distribution chief Barry Reardon. “Ernest Goes to Camp,” an unexpectedly long-running Disney film, logged 13 weeks; the same studio’s “Benji the Hunted” logged 11.)

It was also a time when little-known Latino actors like Andy Garcia (“The Untouchables”) and Esai Morales (“La Bamba”) tasted stardom.

And yet some of the safest bets in show business--including the dual disappointments of “Innerspace” and “Harry and the Hendersons” by producer Steven Spielberg--got clobbered.

In fact, the summer of 1987 made its own rules, some of which are beginning to come clear now that most of the box-office receipts have been counted. Some notes on an off-beat season:

Big isn’t as big as it used to be. This will be the biggest summer ever. But not by much--and not by a long shot if you adjust for inflation. Art Murphy, an analyst for the trade-paper Variety, says the total U.S. summer box office will be about $1.6 billion, just topping the record $1.58 billion summer take in 1984. But don’t forget about vintage years like 1946, when such little-remembered fare as “The Missing Lady” and “The El Paso Kid” helped drive summer ticket sales to something over $500 million. Using an inflation multiplier supplied by the U.S. Department of Commerce, that translates into a whopping $3.8 billion in 1987 dollars.

Revenge of the turkeys . It isn’t a blockbuster business any more. The only summer megahit was “Beverly Hills Cop II,” with $149 million in sales so far. In 1984, by contrast, “Ghostbusters” and “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” each topped $200 million, and “Gremlins” broke the $100-million mark. More remarkably, though, it was a comfortable year for back-bench movies, including supposed misfires like “Harry and the Hendersons” and “Adventures in Babysitting.” According to Exhibitor Relations Co., a Los Angeles consulting firm, the second 10 films at the box-office have taken in $274 million so far--about 49% more than the second 10 had taken in at this point last year.

Revenge of the geezers. Well, not exactly. But we did grow up a little. Teen-leaning films (“BHCII,” “RoboCop,” “Revenge of the Nerds II”) have taken in $444 million, 22% less than last year’s teen crop (“Top Gun,” “Karate Kid II,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”). Meanwhile, movies pitched toward an older set (“Witches of Eastwick,” “The Untouchables,” “Roxanne”) have pulled in $305 million, or 39% more than similar films (“Ruthless People,” “Legal Eagles,” “Nothing in Common”) last year.

Success is in the eye of the beholder. Incredibly, only five movies this summer have made more money than “Legal Eagles,” which starred Robert Redford and Debra Winger and was regarded as one of last year’s more serious busts. Approximately one year ago, Universal’s “Eagles” had brought in $46 million during a nine-week stint. Yet some big 1987 “successes” like Columbia’s “Roxanne” (with $36 million at nine weeks) and Warner Bros.’ “Full Metal Jacket” ($40 million at eight) are still working toward that mark.

We weren’t laughing much. It must have been Iran-scam. There were plenty of comedies out there (about 10). But audiences didn’t pony up for the kind of belly laughs they got from Rodney Dangerfield last year in “Back to School” or Bette Midler in “Ruthless People.” Unless you count “Cop II,” which was heavy on action, or “Witches,” which was loaded with relationships, the only top comedy of the summer was “Dragnet”--the fifth-ranked film, which has taken in $53 million during an eight-week run.

Hype didn’t help. Audiences wrote off Hoffman-Beatty’s “Ishtar” and Madonna’s “Who’s That Girl” even before some overblown, movie-plugging magazine covers hit the stands. Clever marketing, on the other hand, continues to sells tickets. “Can’t Buy Me Love”--a low-budget pickup that stars nobody you’ve heard about and used to be called “Boy Rents Girl” before Disney renamed it after an old Beatles song--was No. 3 at the box office last weekend.

Gimmicks were ghastly. “Million Dollar Mystery” took in less than $1 million at the box office, even though De Laurentiis Entertainment Group offered that same amount to some lucky viewer who solved a riddle laid out in the film. (The prize won’t be collected until HBO gets “Mystery” out on video later this year.) Another trick better forgotten: “Back to the Beach,” Paramount’s fast-fading attempt to bring back the beach-blanket movie, complete with Annette and Frankie.

Sequels prevailed in a majority-decision. Four worked (“Cop II,” “The Living Daylights,” “Revenge of the Nerds II,” “Benji the Hunted”); two didn’t (“Superman IV,” “Jaws the Revenge”).

Some things didn’t change. Paramount, with a huge 20% of the total box office this year, has the only summer movie (“Cop II”) to break the magic $100-million-dollar mark. Last year, Paramount’s “Top Gun” was the only summer film to break that big-buck barrier by this point in last year’s season (although Columbia’s “Karate Kid II,” at $93.6 million, was close). Meanwhile, MGM/UA--despite “Spaceballs” from Mel Brooks and “Living Daylights” with James Bond--has remained near the bottom of the heap.

Some things did. Like Kevin Costner’s luck. He was chopped from “The Big Chill,” forgotten in “Fandango,” and widely unseen in “Silverado.” But check this statistic: Costner’s two summer movies, “The Untouchables” and “No Way Out,” have out-grossed “Cobra” and “Over the Top,” the last two efforts by superstar Sylvester Stallone. It’s $82 million for Costner, $65 million for Stallone. Go figure.