UPDATE 1-New 'Narnia' film falls short at box office

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By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES, May 18 (Reuters) - For the second consecutive weekend, a major Hollywood film fell short of expectations at the box office on Sunday, providing a wobbly start for the lucrative summer moviegoing season in North America.

Walt Disney Co's (DIS.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," the second film in a series based on the "Narnia" books by C.S. Lewis, opened at No. 1 with estimated three-day sales of $56.6 million, the company said.

Industry analysts had expected an opening in the $80 million range, and certainly a figure above the $65.6 million start for the film's 2005 predecessor, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe."

Disney said it was happy with the opening and that the picture had established a strong position ahead of next weekend's four-day U.S. Memorial Day holiday as well as the summer school holidays.

The opening was nowhere near as weak as that for "Speed Racer" last weekend. Warner Bros. Pictures' $160 million kids flick crashed to a dismal $18.6 million during its first three days. This weekend, it was down one place to No. 4 with $7.6 million and has earned $29.8 million to date.

The summer season, which accounts for about 40 percent of the industry's annual sales, kicked off two weekends ago with Marvel Entertainment Inc's (MVL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) surprise smash "Iron Man," which has earned $222.5 million to date. This weekend, the superhero saga slipped to No. 2 with $31.2 million.

"Other than 'Iron Man,' I just don't see the audience getting that excited," said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers.