With Wednesday night's business, Universal Pictures set a new studio record for domestic summer box office, passing its previous summer record of $665.9 million from 2001. With three summer box office weekends still to come, Universal has already earned a total of $667.8 million this summer and $693.1 million this year.

In making the announcement, Universal Pictures Distribution President Nikki Rocco said, "This remarkable achievement could not have happened without the completely unified, perfectly orchestrated efforts of our incredibly passionate and tenacious production, marketing and distribution teams. Our summer slate was comprised of films with a great amount of diversity, and we adapted ourselves to every challenge. But since this is a 52-week business for us, the really good news is that we have an equally strong lineup for the fall and holiday season."

Universal already made box-office history this summer with three consecutive openings of more than $50 million: "Bruce Almighty," which set a new record for a nonsequel comedy with $85.7 million over Memorial Day weekend and has taken in $239.5 million to date at the domestic box office; "2 Fast 2 Furious," which opened to $50.5 million and has grossed $126.0 million to date; and "The Hulk," which set a new June record with its opening weekend of $62.0 million, and has taken in $130.9 at the domestic box office. Prior to this, no studio had ever had even two $50 million openings in a row.

In addition to these three number one openings, Universal had its fourth summer release to open to number one at the domestic box office with "American Wedding," which took in $33.4 million in its first three days and has grossed $71.1 million to date. "Seabiscuit," which opened July 25th in a smaller number of theaters nationwide and has held strongly since then, buoyed by excellent reviews and enthusiastic word-of-mouth, has taken in $73.8 million date. "Johnny English," which had already grossed more than $116 million overseas prior to its domestic release, has amassed $26.5 million in the U.S. and Canada.

Universal Pictures' fall schedule kicks off on September 26 with "The Rundown," a funny and rollicking action-adventure starring The Rock, Seann William Scott, Rosario Dawson and Christopher Walken, directed by Peter Berg. On October 10, George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones square off in a romantic battle of the sexes comedy, "Intolerable Cruelty," from Oscar winning filmmakers Brian Grazer and Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. On November 14, Jessica Alba (TV's "Dark Angel") stars as "Honey," a talented young dancer-choreographer who finds real meaning in her life when she befriends a group of street-dancing neighborhood kids. This high-energy, high-spirited drama with music co-stars Mekhi Phifer ("8 Mile"), rap star Li'l Romeo and recording artist Missy Elliot.

Mike Myers takes on the title role of the fast-taking feline in "Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat," a live-action big screen comedy from Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures and producer Brian Grazer ("The Grinch"), opening November 21. Also in November, Richard Curtis, the screenwriter of such beloved favorites as "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill" and "Bridget Jones's Diary," makes his directorial debut with "Love Actually," the ultimate romantic comedy boasting a remarkable cast of actors, including Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Keria Knightley. And opening Christmas Day, Universal Pictures joins with Columbia Pictures and Revolution Studios on the first live action film adaptation since the silent era of J. M. Barrie's classic "Peter Pan."

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