By Carl DiOrio

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Rival studios must have been fresh out of garlic.

Warner Bros.' vampire romp "Queen of the Damned" sank its teeth into an estimated $15.2 million to taste sweet victory in weekend box office competition.

The second film adaptation of an Anne Rice novel after 1994's "Interview with the Vampire," "Queen" starred late R&B singer Aaliyah and drew predominately urban audiences.

New Line's Denzel Washington starrer "John Q." was No. 2 on the weekend, dropping a slim 38% in its sophomore session to an estimated $12.5 million. The controversial health-care drama boasts a 10-day total of $39.9 million.

Universal's Kevin Costner starrer "Dragonfly" opened third at $10.4 million. The supernatural thriller is a creative departure for director Tom Shadyac, known mostly for comedies like "Liar Liar" and "The Nutty Professor," as well as the feel-good "Patch Adams."

Disney's modestly budgeted tooner "Return to Never Land" dropped a smallish 25% in its second weekend to $9 million in fourth place. The "Peter Pan" spinoff flew its total to $27.2 million.

Paramount's Britney Spears starrer "Crossroads" parked in fifth with a big 51% fall-off from its opening session to $7.1 million. The youth drama, which cost an estimated $12 million to produce, has hauled off with $26.3 million to date.

MGM's Bruce Willis-Colin Farrell starrer "Hart's War" fell 41% in its second frame to $4.6 million in eighth place. The pricey prisoner-of-war drama has captured only $13.8 million to date.

Warners will split box office and the unspecified costs for "Queen of the Damned" 50-50 with co-production partner Village Roadshow. The audience was more than 60% ethnic and 33% comprised of females under age 25, the studio's distribution president Dan Fellman said.

"They were driven to the film by their loyalty and curiosity and desire to see Aaliyah," Fellman said. The singer died in a Caribbean light-plane crash last year.

"Dragonfly" did well with women of all ages but flew furthest with young femmes, Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said. The box office will be split 50-50 between Universal and partner Spyglass. They also evenly divided an estimated $60 million in negative costs.

Industrywide, box office receipts were up 21% -- at a total $110 million -- from the same weekend a year earlier, according to data from ACNielsen EDI. The year-ago session was marked by weak bows of Costner's "3,000 Miles to Graceland" ($7.2 million) and Brendan Fraser's "Monkeybone" ($2.7 million).

Year-to-date, 2002 is 1.5% ahead of the same period of last year at $1.25 billion.

The upcoming weekend features two wide openers -- the Miramax comedy "40 Days and 40 Nights," which has won good early reviews, and Paramount's Mel Gibson starrer "We Were Soldiers," a well-anticipated Vietnam War picture that's based on a true story.

Outside of the top 10, MGM's struggling "Rollerball" grossed $1.2 million (off 69%) from 1,409 third-week playdates, or a limp $861 per engagement. Its total rose to $17.3 million.

Miramax's Oscar best-picture nominee "In the Bedroom" added one theater -- for a total 1,103 -- but grossed 11% less than the previous weekend at $2.4 million. Its sleepy $2,130 per-venue performance moved the Sissy Spacek starrer to $26.3 million overall.

USA Films' "Gosford Park," another best-picture nominee, lost 16 theaters at 821 and fell 10% to $2.2 million, and a per-venue average of $2,639; its total rose to $28.6 million.

Both "Bedroom" and "Park" are trying to sustain commercial crossovers from arthouse bases. But fellow best-picture nominees -- and solid commercial hits -- "A Beautiful Mind" from Universal and "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" from New Line continue to outshine.

"Mind" was seventh on the weekend with $5.2 million and moved its total to $132.6 million. "Rings," though out of the top 10, took in another $3.6 million and upped its haul to a boffo $283.3 million.

The fifth best-pic nominee, 20th Century Fox's "Moulin Rouge," is in homevideo.

Sony's "Black Hawk Down" -- which copped four Academy nominations but missed in the best-picture niche -- shed 348 theaters this weekend to gross $3.7 million from 1,802 venues. The military actioner has grossed $101.4 million to date.

Miramax's Danish-language "Italian for Beginners" added 34 venues at 56 and took in $345,000, or a fluent $6,160 average. Its total rose to $1.1 million.

And the studio's Iris Murdoch biopic "Iris" added 10 theaters for a total 41 and grossed $300,000, or an impressive $7,317 average. Its total rose to $973,080.

In a limited bow, USA's laffer "Monsoon Wedding" soaked up $66,217 from a pair of Gotham engagements. The Mira Nair-helmed pic adds an L.A. playdate Friday.

Paramount Classics' soccer actioner "Mean Machine" -- a remake of the classic prison-football pic, "The Longest Yard" -- scored an estimated $18,000 from six L.A. and Gotham locations, or an average $3,000 per site.

And Palm's hip-hop documentary "Scratch" held steady with a pair of playdates to gross $8,092 for a $26,675 total.

Reuters/Variety

The top movies in North America -- February 22-24

Mon Feb 25, 5:43 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the February 22-24 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Queen of the Damned .......... $14,757,535

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $14,757,535

2. John Q. .......... $12,473,834

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $39,804,238

3. Dragonfly .......... $10,216,025

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $10,216,025

4. Return to Never Land .......... $8,990,061

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $27,266,300

5. Crossroads .......... $7,010,111

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $26,175,774

6. Big Fat Liar .......... $6,324,015

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $33,233,880

7. A Beautiful Mind .......... $5,306,985

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $132,688,491

8. Hart's War .......... $4,461,246

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $15,000,723

9. Super Troopers .......... $3,907,269

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,476,791

10. Collateral Damage .......... $3,855,353

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $34,601,095

Reuters/Variety

John L.: The dead shall rise again, and Aaliyah has returned to entrance all who view her with her beauty.  Kevin Costner tries to get in the Mothman Prophecies territory by playing with dragonflies.  The box office this week is sort of dull, but somewhat interesting.  Let's take a brief look at it.

Queen of the Damned is a psuedo sequel to Interview With the Vampire which starred Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise.  The character of Lestat, that Cruise played is now being performed by Stewart Townsend.  Aaliyah plays Akasha the original vampire who gets revived to cause havoc.  Rock, roll, and bloodsucking ensue to all who get in the way.  This movie had problems of their poster cover girl getting on an overloaded plane and dying in the crash.  It was very sad since her album had just been released to critical and commercial acclaim and many people were very interested in what she was going to do in the Matrix 2.  She was pretty good in Romeo Must Die and definitely had potential for future multi entertainment success.  Unlike other singers that go to acting, Aaliyah was going for roles that were different from her music and videos.  That was giving people reason to see her.  If she was still alive, this movie could have opened to at least $20 million to 25 million.  Now it is just a memorial.