By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "The Scorpion King" reigned at the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend, untroubled by two low-powered debuts taking advantage of the lull before next Friday's highly anticipated bow of "Spider-Man."

According to studio estimates issued Sunday, "Scorpion King" grossed $17.6 million for the three days beginning Friday, taking its 10-day haul to $60.8 million -- matching its relatively modest production budget.

The action adventure, a spinoff of the two "Mummy" movies, stars World Wrestling Federation Entertainment Inc. grappler the Rock (a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson) as a nomadic mercenary who battles an evil warlord. The Rock, who turns 30 next week, is already being touted as the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, and plans for a "Scorpion King" sequel are in the works.

Although the Universal Pictures film lost about half its audience from last weekend -- on par with the drops of last summer's blockbusters -- studio executives said they were thrilled with its performance. The film should pass $100 million, said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at the Vivendi Universal SA-owned studio.

The big issue is how much it will be hurt by "Spider-Man," the first major release of the lucrative summer movie season. The film, which stars Tobey Maguire as the nimble crime fighter, took more than 10 years to bring to the big screen and cost about $100 million to make. It will be released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp (news - web sites)..

JOLIE FILM ON 'LIFE' SUPPORT

"Life or Something Like It" (Twentieth Century Fox), a romantic comedy starring Angelina Jolie and Edward Burns, opened at No. 3 with a poor $6.7 million. Although studio executives were disappointed by the tally, they were heartened by favorable exit polling from its female-skewing audience and hoped the movie would hold up well next weekend.

The $40 million film was fully financed by independent producer Regency Enterprises, and Fox is getting a distribution fee. Jolie, sporting a blond hairdo, plays a Seattle TV reporter whose superficial existence is changed when a clairvoyant tells her she has only five days to live. Fox is a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

Hot on its heels was New Line Cinema's "Jason X," the latest film in the creaky "Friday the 13th" slasher franchise. It pulled in $6.5 million, but cost just $11 million to make. In the latest development, Jason wreaks havoc in space. New Line is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc.

Among the holdovers, the road-rage thriller "Changing Lanes" (Paramount) held at No. 2 in its third weekend with $9 million, for a 17-day tally of $44.6 million. The Sandra Bullock crime drama "Murder By Numbers" (Warner Bros.) fell three places to No. 5 in its second weekend with $6.3 million and a 10-day total of $18.3 million. Paramount Pictures is a unit of Viacom Inc.. Warner Bros Pictures is also a unit of AOL Time Warner.

WOODY ALLEN TO RETURN

According to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 films grossed almost $70 million, down 25 percent from last weekend, but up 27 percent from the year-ago period when the Sylvester Stallone car-racing drama "Driven" opened at No. 1.

Besides "Spider-Man," other new releases next weekend include the Woody Allen showbiz comedy "Hollywood Ending" and the 1950s-set gang drama "Deuces Wild."

In the limited-release arena, the Val Kilmer drama "The Salton Sea" (Warner Bros.) grossed $175,000 from 15 theaters in four cities (New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Toronto). It will expand to additional cities over the next few weekends.

In its second weekend, the World War Two thriller "Enigma" grossed $157,304 from 27 theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Lexington, Kentucky. The British film, produced by Rolling Stones front man Mick Jagger with "Saturday Night Live (news - Y! TV)" creator Lorne Michaels, has grossed about $371,000. It was distributed by privately held Manhattan Pictures Intl.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the April 26-28 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. The Scorpion King .......... $18,038,270

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $61,313,785

2. Changing Lanes .......... $ 9,008,285

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $44,574,642

3. Jason X .......... $6,649,006

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,649,006

4. Murder By Numbers .......... $6,362,457

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $18,362,833

5. Life Or Something Like It .......... $6,219,234

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,219,234

6. The Rookie .......... $5,607,222

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $60,767,811

7. Ice Age .......... $5,020,786

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $165,830,108

8. Panic Room .......... $4,210,107

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $87,736,590

9. High Crimes .......... $3,111,550

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $35,093,925

10. The Sweetest Thing .......... $2,904,173

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $21,280,807

Reuters/Variety

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