By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Is he or isn't he an alien?

That was the question at the North American box office this weekend as the new Kevin Spacey film ``K-Pax'' opened at No. 1 with $17.5 million in sales for the three days beginning Friday, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The psychological drama stars Spacey as a man who claims to hail from the titular planet, while Jeff Bridges plays a shrink whose quest to unravel the mystery develops into an obsession. The $48 million film was released domestically by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal .

``The whole question of 'is he or isn't he?' is something that's very appealing,'' said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution at Universal. Sixty percent of the film's audience was aged over 30, and the gender mix was evenly split, Rocco added. British filmmaker Iain Softley (''The Wings of the Dove'') directed.

If estimates hold when final data are issued on Monday, ''K-Pax'' will rank as the third best October opener ever, squeaking past the 1998 cartoon ``Antz'' ($17.2 million).

The top 10 contained two other new releases, the Halloween-themed thrillers ``Thirteen Ghosts'' (Warner Bros. Pictures) at No. 2 with $15.7 million and ``Bones'' (New Line Cinema) at No. 9 with a disappointing $3.0 million. Both studios are units of AOL Time Warner Inc .

'N SYNC DUO SINKS

Meanwhile, 'N Sync pop stars Lance Bass and Joey Fatone got a big fright as their feature debut ``On The Line'' bowed at a lowly No. 11 with $2.3 million. The $10 million romantic comedy, on which Bass served as a producer, was released by Miramax Films, a unit of Walt Disney Co . A Miramax spokesman declined comment other than to predict the film would be popular as a home video.

The weak bows of both ``Bones,'' which stars gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg, and ``On The Line'' indicate that music stars do not necessarily play big at the box office, as evidenced by the recent Mariah Carey flop ``Glitter.''

Two new releases from last weekend vied for the No. 3 position, with incumbent champ ``From Hell'' reporting $6.075 million vs. $6.0 million for ``Riding in Cars With Boys.''

``From Hell,'' a Jack the Ripper thriller starring Johnny Depp, has picked up $20.8 million after 10 days. The film was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of Fox Entertainment Group Inc .

The total for the Drew Barrymore drama ``Riding in Cars with Boys,'' which bowed at No. 2 last weekend, stands at $19.1 million. The film was released by Columbia Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp .

The No. 5 spot was also a close race between ``Training Day'' (Warner Bros.) with $5.11 million and ``Bandits'' with $5.05 million. The former, starring Denzel Washington as a corrupt cop, has grossed $65 million after 24 days. ``Bandits,'' starring Bruce Willis and Billy Bob Thornton in the title role, has $32.1 million after 17 days. It was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc .

BUSINESS IMPROVES

Overall box office receipts for the top 12 films totaled $73.4 million, up 1 percent from last weekend, and up 3.3 percent from the year-ago period when ``Meet the Parents'' was No. 1 for the fourth consecutive weekend.

New releases next weekend include the Jet Li action thriller ``The One,'' the animated ``Monsters, Inc.'' and the John Travolta thriller ``Domestic Disturbance.''

Among the current new releases, ``Thirteen Ghosts'' marks the second horror film produced for Warner Bros. by Dark Castle, a company formed by filmmakers Joel Silver, Bob Zemeckis and Gilbert Adler to remake movies from the late horrormeister William Castle. The banner's previous release, ``House on Haunted Hill,'' opened with $15.9 million in 1999. Next Halloween, Dark Castle will release ``Ghost Ship.''

The audience for the R-rated ``Thirteen Ghosts'' was predictably young: 55 percent aged between 18 and 25, said WB distribution president, Dan Fellman. The film cost under $20 million to make.

``Bones,'' an $11 million film starring Snoop Dogg as a vengeful ghost, was conceived as a franchise project. It attracted a young ethnic audience, said a New Line spokeswoman. Since opening Wednesday, ``Bones'' has grossed $3.8 million.

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

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. K-Pax .......... $17,215,275

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,215,275

2. Thirteen Ghosts .......... $15,165,355

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $15,165,355

3. From Hell .......... $6,019,012

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $20,695,093

4. Riding in Cars with Boys .......... $6,011,394

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $19,102,783

5. Training Day .......... $5,137,712

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $65,029,281

6. Bandits .......... $5,048,007

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $32,131,388

7. Serendipity .......... $3,811,923

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $40,035,191

8. The Last Castle .......... $3,626,006

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,951,350

9. Corky Romano .......... $2,997,670

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $20,246,231

10. Bones .......... $2,823,548

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $3,566,361

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.: