By Carl DiOrio

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Twentieth Century Fox's ``From Hell'' was just hot enough.

The Jack the Ripper suspenser cut up box office competition this weekend with an estimated $11.3 million bow, as Sony's ``Riding in Cars With Boys'' tailgated into second place with a $10.8 million opening. DreamWorks' Robert Redford-toplined prison drama ``The Last Castle'' locked up fifth place with a weak $7.1 million debut.

Though none of the openers wowed, their collective box office combined with solid grosses for holdover pictures to power the weekend to a 6% uptick over the same frame a year ago at a total $86 million. In a year-to-date comparison, 2001 is 9% ahead of the same period of last year, according to data from B.O. tracker ACNielsen EDI.

``From Hell'' was the only opener to play broadly. ``Riding in Cars'' had a heck of a time attracting males and ``Castle'' failed to capture young moviegoers.

Fox, whose satanic-themed laffer ``Bedazzled'' topped openers in the same session last year, hopes ``Hell'' will do well next weekend over the pre-Halloween frame.

``I think that's our time,'' distribution president Bruce Snyder suggested.

But ``Hell'' will be crowded by four new wide releases over its sophomore session. Those include the Halloween-timed horror pictures ``Bones'' from New Line and ``Thirteen Ghosts'' from Warner Bros., as well as Universal's Kevin Spacey starrer ``K-Pax'' and Miramax's romantic laffer ``On the Line.''

Meanwhile, an estimated $30 million negative cost for the Hughes brothers-helmed ``Hell'' is just one more way the Johnny Depp starrer enjoyed a leg up on its opening competition. Production costs easily pushed $50 million on ``Cars'' and $60 million on ``Castle.''

Sony marketing and distribution boss Jeff Blake said the ``Cars'' grosses represented ``a good opening for the fall'' and added he hopes the picture can display comely legs.

``You usually would be better off with young males on opening weekends, but female pictures hold well,'' Blake observed.

DreamWorks distribution president Jim Tharp acknowledged being ``disappointed'' with the opening for ``Castle,'' which was delayed a week so the studio could bolster its heavy media campaign after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Some said it was small surprise the studio couldn't attract broad interest in a picture about events at a men's prison. But others said ``Castle'' suffered from poor timing in offering such gritty fare amid ongoing national upheaval.

``It's impossible to know the impact of recent events on this film,'' Tharp said.

The MGM crime comedy ``Bandits'' -- a pricey Bruce Willis starrer whose weak bow a week ago was blamed in part on recent news events -- posted a relatively modest 35% drop this weekend with an estimated $8.4 million in fourth place.

Disney comedy ``Corky Romano'' grabbed $5.3 million with a 42% decline in its second weekend. And Miramax's chopsocky ``Iron Monkey'' slipped 47% to $3.2 million in its second frame.

Warners' Denzel Washington starrer ``Training Day'' fell only 29% in its third weekend to $9.5 million, good enough for third place after two weeks at No. 1. The rogue-cop drama boosted its total to a muscular $57.5 million through only 17 days.

In a limited bow, Fox Searchlight's Richard Linklater toon ``Waking Life'' grossed an estimated $88,000 from single venues in Gotham, L.A., Chicago and Toronto.

The performance represented a $22,000 average per theater one week before a scheduled expansion to 14 additional cities and 27 engagements. ``Life'' enjoyed a two-day earlier bow in Gotham than elsewhere, so its haul sits at $94,150.

Paramount Classics' ``Focus,'' an adaptation of a 1945 Arthur Miller novel, opened in a pair of Gotham locations with an estimated $26,000 total. The William H. Macy starrer expands to top-10 markets on Nov. 2.

Universal Focus' ``Mulholland Drive'' added 181 playdates for a total 247 this weekend, as the David Lynch suspenser grossed an estimated $1 million. The performance, representing an acceptable $4,055 per venue, took the total to $1.9 million.

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the October 19-21 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross Gross

1. From Hell .......... $11,014,818

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $11,014,818

2. Riding in Cars with Boys .......... $10,404,652

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $10,404,652

3. Training Day .......... $9,325,443

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $57,283,521

4. Bandits .......... $8,304,007

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $24,884,979

5. The Last Castle .......... $7,088,213

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $7,088,213

6. Serendipity .......... $5,446,446

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $34,426,889

7. Corky Romano .......... $5,307,985

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $16,185,276

8. Don't Say A Word .......... $4,215,594

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $47,885,454

9. Iron Monkey .......... $3,190,010

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $10,737,961

10. Zoolander .......... $3,135,854

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $40,018,837

Reuters/Variety REUTERS

John L.: Due to a major web service provider breakdown, only minimal box office reports for the rest of the year. The site should return to normal at the beginning of 2002. Sorry.