LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mission accomplished for ``Black Hawk Down.'' The gritty military thriller ruled the North American box office in its second weekend of wide release, according to studio estimates issued Sunday, while five new films jostled for attention in the top 10. Rather than cannibalize each other, the rookies helped drive overall box office sales higher.

``Black Hawk Down,'' British director Ridley Scott's depiction of a bad day for the U.S. military in Somalia in 1993, grossed about $18.2 million for the three days beginning Jan. 25, taking the film's total to $60.1 million. The film was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp..

Last weekend's No. 2 movie, the family comedy ``Snow Dogs,'' shared the rank this time with newcomer ``A Walk To Remember,'' a spiritual romance starring teen pop singer Mandy Moore. Both earned about $13.6 million, according to their respective studios, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Another new film, ``The Mothman Prophecies'' (Screen Gems), a thriller starring Richard Gere, opened at No. 4 with $11.8 million. ``A Beautiful Mind'' (Universal), which picked up four Golden Globe Awards last Sunday, followed close behind with $11.7 million. Rankings could change when final data are issued Monday.

Among the other rookies: ``The Count of Monte Cristo'' (Touchstone) opened at No. 6 with $11.5 million; ``I Am Sam'' (New Line) grabbed No. 7 with $8.3 million in its first weekend of wide release after several weeks of just one Los Angeles engagement; the martial-arts spoof ``Kung Pow! Enter the Fist'' (Fox) bowed at No. 9 with $7.3 million.

``I never thought I'd be thrilled to have a film open at No. 9,'' said Bruce Snyder, president of distribution at Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.. The film, which cost under $9 million to make, should become profitable by next Friday, he explained.

The top 12 films grossed $115.3 million, the highest three- day tally since New Year's weekend, according to box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. New releases next weekend, when Sunday business will be hurt by the Super Bowl, include the college comedy ``Slackers'' and the Nicole Kidman thriller ''Birthday Girl.''

If ``Black Hawk Down'' loses its crown next weekend, Sony Pictures marketing and distribution president Jeff Blake said he would be ``very disappointed.'' The studio aims to have the picture hold at No. 1 at least through Academy Award nominations on Feb. 12, which it hopes will provide an extra boost. Among the viewers who caught the film was President Bush, who screened it for the Republican leadership at Camp David Friday.

Sony also released ``The Mothman Prophecies,'' via its Screen Gems unit, which handles mid-budget films. Gere plays a newspaper reporter on the trail of supernatural forces. Reviews were poor, but Blake said the movie has generated strong, under-the-radar buzz among young adults. The studio reportedly paid about $15 million for North American distribution rights.

Warner Bros. was also happy with ``A Walk to Remember,'' which stars Moore as an ill-fated schoolgirl and cost under $10 million to make. About half the audience consisted of females under 18 years, said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at the AOL Time Warner Inc.-owned studio.

Women over 25 flocked to see Sean Penn play a retarded father in ``I Am Sam,'' which was released by AOL Time Warner's New Line Cinema unit. The film played on just 1,268 theaters, while the rest of the movies in the top 10 averaged about 2,400 theaters. ``Sam'' pulled in about $6,565 per theater, the highest score in the top 10, followed by $5,869 for ``Black Hawk Down.''

The male-skewing ``Count of Monte Cristo,'' starring Jim Caviezel in the latest update of Alexandre Dumas' classic tale, opened in line with expectations, said Chuck Viane, president of distribution at Walt Disney Co., parent company of both Touchstone Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures. It cost about $31 million to make.

Underpinned by its four Golden Globes, including best dramatic picture, ``Beautiful Mind'' suffered no audience erosion from last weekend. By contrast, ``Black Hawk Down'' slipped a creditable 36 percent and ``Snow Dogs'' just 24 percent. After six weekends of release, the Russell Crowe drama has grossed $93 million for Universal, a unit of Vivendi Universal. ``Snow Dogs,'' which stars Cuba Gooding Jr., has $39.3 million after 10 days.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the January 25-27 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. Black Hawk Down .......... $17,012,268

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $58,893,074

2. Snow Dogs .......... $13,079,373

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $38,811,967

3. A Walk To Remember .......... $12,177,488

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,177,488

4. A Beautiful Mind .......... $11,531,735

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $92,887,746

5. The Count of Monte Cristo .......... $11,376,150

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $11,376,150

6. The Mothman Prophecies .......... $11,208,851

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $11,208,851

7. I Am Sam .......... $8,315,581

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $8,506,955

8. The Lord of the Rings .......... $7,803,075

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $258,449,272

9. Kung Pow! Enter the Fist .......... $7,017,474

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $7,017,474

10. Orange County .......... $4,418,401

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $34,046,523

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.: