Christopher Nolan proved there is always room at the multiplex, even in swimsuit season, for a smart, original story. Will Ferrell bounced back. Michael Cera fell flat. Animation was the No. 1 genre. Sorry, 'Sex and the City' ladies: It's over. Hollywood's summer may have been tepid -- movie theater attendance was the lowest in more than a decade -- but the big-budget, big-risk stretch delivered an unusually robust array of tea leaves for studios to read as they make decisions for the seasons ahead. First, the numbers. Attendance from the first weekend in May through Labor Day is projected to total about $552 million, the lowest tally since 1997, when 540 million people turned up in the same period, according to Hollywood.com, which compiles box office data. Revenue for the period -- which typically accounts for 40 percent of the industry's annual ticket sales -- totaled $4.35 billion, a 2 percent increase from last year. Sharply higher prices for tickets across the board, but especially for 3-D presentations, drove the increase. The worry, as seen in poor results for recent 3-D releases like 'Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,' is that theater chains and studios have overreached on pricing. Nolan's 'Inception,' backed by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, was the breakout blockbuster of the summer, racking up about $660 million in ticket sales. It was certainly a good summer for Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in 'Inception' as an invader of people's dreams. Also faring well were Angelina Jolie, who turned an old-fashioned spy caper ('Salt') into a hit, and Adam Sandler, who powered an ensemble comedy ('Grown Ups') into the stratosphere. And Will Ferrell returned in August with 'The Other Guys' and garnered the second-biggest opening of his career. Flopping this summer were Nicolas Cage, whose 'Sorcerer's Apprentice' died on arrival, and Cera, whose quirky 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' won positive reviews but failed to draw a mainstream audience. The No. 1 movie of the summer had no stars, at least on screen: 'Toy Story 3' topped the North American box office with more than $405 million and had a global total of over $1 billion. 'Iron Man 2' was second, with $312 million ($622 million total), and 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' was third, with $298 million ($655 million total). The art house market came alive over the weekend, however. With George Clooney starring, 'The American,' released by Focus Features on Wednesday, was No. 1 in North America, with about $13 million for a total of $16.1 million. 'Takers' (Sony Pictures Entertainment) was second, with $11.5 million for a new total of $38 million. 'Machete,' a grisly revenge thriller from 20th Century Fox, was third, with $11.3 million. 'The Last Exorcism' (Lionsgate) was fourth, with $7.6 million for a new total of $32.3 million, while Drew Barrymore's 'Going the Distance' (Warner) disappointed with a fifth-place debut and $6.9 million. 