Violent ‘Seven’ Outdraws Sexy ‘Showgirls’ at Box Office : Movies: Action film with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman is the all-time top-grossing September release.

Sex took second place to violence as Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman’s thriller “Seven” debuted to an estimated $14.5 million gross on 2,441 screens, the best September opening ever, according to New Line Cinema.

While competitors were contesting that total, putting “Seven” closer to $13.5 million, it would still outrank the previous September record-holder, “Nightmare on Elm Street 6,” also from New Line, which took in $12.6 million its opening weekend in 1991, according to Mitch Goldman, the company’s distribution chief.

Excoriating notices dampened a provocative marketing campaign and titillating publicity blitz for United Artists’ “Showgirls,” but the first NC-17 rated studio release since Universal’s “Henry and June” in 1990 still managed to lock in about $6,000 a screen in 1,388 theaters, for an estimated weekend take of $8.3 million. Word of mouth is expected to further erode the film’s long-term chances. MGM/UA distribution head Larry Gleason says the film is playing better with younger (and almost exclusively urban) audiences in the United States. In Canada, where the film is rated R, the increase from Friday to Saturday night business was much stronger, indicating that the NC-17 was definitely a deciding factor on the all-important date night.

UA is likely to cover its marketing costs on “Showgirls”--studios typically spend $12 to $20 million marketing major films--but will have to wait for video and cable sales to defray its share of expenses on the $40-million plus film. The studio has domestic rights, for which it reportedly paid less than half the total budget.

The two top films propelled the weekend ahead of last year by 5% to 10% depending on final Sunday business, according to John Krier of Exhibitor Relations, the box-office tracking firm. With a flood of promising titles due over the next several weeks, the season could be an excellent lead-in to the holidays.

Though reviews for “Seven” were better than for “Showgirls,” they were only mixed. Pitt’s star power and a dearth of action titles pushed the film over the top, according to Goldman. Anticipating heavy action in the fall, Goldman pulled “Seven” up into September and opened extra wide with the $30-million R-rated film, adding many more small-town and suburban engagements. Pitt’s last few films, such as “Legends of the Fall,” have done especially well in these areas, according to Goldman. Though the audience skewed toward males, there was also distaff attendance, again because of Pitt.

Final exit surveys were not in yet, but Goldman said “initial response from theater managers is that word is very strong.”

Dropping to third was “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar,” which enjoyed two weeks at the top and added $4.4 million on 1,459 screens in weekend No. 3 for $24.3 million to date.

Right behind it is the amazingly sturdy “Dangerous Minds,” which topped $70 million thanks to a $2.9-million weekend on 1,582 screens.

Spike Lee’s “Clockers,” despite some good reviews, became one of the fall’s first casualties. It had opened poorly a week earlier and then dropped 39% to $2.7 million on 1,234 screens over the weekend for fifth place and just less than $10 million in two weeks.

Diane Keaton’s directorial debut, “Unstrung Heroes,” had a promising first wide weekend on 576 screens for $2.6 million and sixth place. Though it will not be a mass-audience pleaser, Disney is hoping for good art-house-type business on the order of seventh-place “Usual Suspects” from Gramercy Pictures, which captured another $2 million over the weekend in 876 auditoriums for $15 million to date.

In eighth was MGM/UA’s disappointing “Hackers,” which dropped to $1.7 million on 1,812 screens for a disastrous $5.8 million in two weeks. Right behind it is the wide reissue of “Braveheart,” which managed another $1.5 million on 1,477 screens, bringing its grand total to about $65 million. And in 10th was the $50-million “Babe,” the charming fantasy which just passed its production costs based on $1.5 million on 1,575 screens over the weekend.