By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer

LOS ANGELES - Death-by-videotape brought box-office life to "The Ring," a horror flick that scared up $15 million to debut as the weekend's No. 1 movie.

Starring Naomi Watts as a reporter investigating a video whose viewers die horribly a week after watching it, "The Ring" knocked off "Red Dragon," which had been the top film for two straight weekends.

"Red Dragon" fell to third place with $8.8 million during the weekend, while "Sweet Home Alabama" remained the No. 2 film with $9.6 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The weekend's other new wide releases fared poorly. Katie Holmes' psychological thriller "Abandon" opened weakly with $5.3 million, finishing in sixth place. Samuel L. Jackson's crime caper "Formula 51" bombed with $2.9 million, coming in at No. 12.

The overall box office rose slightly. The top 12 movies took in $74.2 million, up 2 percent from the same weekend last year.

If those numbers hold when final figures are released Monday, it would be Hollywood's sixth straight weekend of rising revenues and a promising lead-in to the busy holiday season, which starts next month with "The Santa Clause 2" and "Harry Potter (news - web sites) and the Chamber of Secrets."

"People just keep going to the movies," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "That trend just looks like it's going to continue into the holidays."

"The Ring," a U.S. remake of a Japanese horror sensation, averaged a healthy $7,572 a theater playing in 1,981 cinemas.

"Abandon," the directing debut of "Traffic" screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, played in 2,341 theaters and averaged $2,264. "Formula 51" averaged a meager $1,562 in 1,857 theaters.

Most fright films are trashed by critics and come and go quickly, doing the bulk of their business in the first couple of weeks. Distributor DreamWorks hopes for longer life on "The Ring," which received generally positive reviews.

The studio opened "The Ring" in fewer theaters than most big studio releases, planning to add 300 to 500 more next weekend in a slower rollout to build word of mouth.

"It's a good movie, and it seems people are in the mood for a fun, scary story. They had goose bumps on top of goose bumps," said Jim Tharp, DreamWorks' head of distribution.

In limited release, "Auto Focus," on the sordid life and death of "Hogan's Heroes" star Bob Crane, debuted strongly with $140,839 at 11 theaters, averaging $12,804. "Auto Focus" stars Greg Kinnear as Crane, who was murdered in a motel room amid photos and tapes of his sexual encounters.

Adam Sandler and Emily Watson's "Punch-Drunk Love" continued to do big business as it expanded to more theaters. In its second weekend, the oddball romance took in $1.63 million in 78 theaters for a $20,897 average.

Michael Moore's "Bowling for Columbine," a satiric documentary on America's gun culture, also had an impressive second weekend, expanding to 46 theaters and taking in $773,000 for a $16,804 average.

LOS ANGELES, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the October 18-20 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

1. The Ring .......... $15,015,393

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $15,015,393

2. Sweet Home Alabama .......... $9,559,978

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $98,472,245

3. Red Dragon .......... $8,763,545

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $77,810,085

4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding .......... $7,145,309

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $169,292,979

5. Brown Sugar .......... $5,215,091

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $18,502,360

6. The Transporter .......... $5,083,217

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,191,186

7. Abandon .......... $5,064,077

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $5,064,077

8. The Tuxedo .......... $4,122,131

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $43,149,512

9. Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie .......... $3,906,223

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $16,025,403

10. Tuck Everlasting .......... $3,758,808

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $10,579,840

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  More next week.