By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Ice Cube comedy "Barbershop" clipped four middling newcomers to hold the top slot at the North American box office for the second weekend in a row, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

The low-budget $20 million film earned $13.3 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period, ahead of groupie comedy "The Banger Sisters," which opened at No. 2 with $10.3 million.

"If ("Barbershop") had opened to this much, we would have been thrilled," said Peter Adee, president of marketing at the film's distributor, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., who added that all parties are keen for a sequel.

With $38.9 million banked after 10 days, industry observers estimate "Barbershop" could surpass $60 million domestically, especially if it crosses over from young black audiences to mainstream viewers. The film lost just 36 percent of its first-weekend audience, indicating that the word is spreading. Urban films often tumble by 50 percent or more after opening.

Ice Cube (real name: O'Shea Jackson) plays the owner of a south side Chicago barbershop that is a social focus point for the neighborhood. Cedric the Entertainer and rapper Eve also star.

"The Banger Sisters," starring Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon, matched both its production cost and the expectations of its studio, Fox Searchlight Pictures. The arthouse wing of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc had two pictures in the top 10 for the first time in its history. The Robin Williams drama "One Hour Photo" fell three places to No. 6 with $4.7 million in its second weekend of wide release. Its total rose to $21.8 million.

"FEATHERS" FLOPS

Older women, a demographic not particularly favored by youth-obsessed Hollywood, provided the strongest support for both "The Banger Sisters" and another new release, the romantic period epic "The Four Feathers," starring Hawn's daughter, Kate Hudson. But the Paramount Pictures film could tickle up only $7.1 million, tying at No. 4 with fellow rookie, the action thriller "Ballistic: Ecks. vs. Severs" (Warner Bros.)

Paramount distribution president Wayne Lewellen said the opening for "Four Feathers" was "somewhat disappointing." But the Shekhar Kapur-directed remake cost a relatively cheap $30 million to $35 million and the expense was shared by production partner Miramax Films, a unit of Walt Disney Co. Paramount is a unit of Viacom Inc.

Similarly, Warner Bros. was philosophical about "Ballistic," which stars Lucy Liu and Antonio Banderas as dueling spies. The AOL Time Warner Inc-owned studio distributed it on a fee basis for producer Franchise Pictures.

The debutantes were rounded out by the Columbia Pictures child-abduction thriller "Trapped," which snatched the No. 10 slot with $3.2 million. With some high-profile kidnappings making the news in recent months, the Sony Corp ( news - web sites).-owned studio marketed the film in a low-key manner. It acquired the rights for just under $10 million.

After three weekends at No. 2, the hit romantic comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" slipped to No. 3 with $10 million in its 23rd round. Its total rose to $124 million, just $16 million short of the most successful indie film in history, the 1999 thriller "The Blair Witch Project."

"Wedding," which stars Nia Vardalos as a Greek-American who marries a WASP played by John Corbett, was released by IFC Films, a unit of Rainbow Media Holdings Inc., majority owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.

BOX OFFICE BUOYANT

Total receipts for the top 12 films rose for the second consecutive weekend, according to tracking firm Exhibitor Relations. The $70 million tally represented a 61 percent leap over the year ago period, when the Keanu Reeves film "Hardball" led the field with $8 million in its second round.

Wide new releases next weekend include the Jackie Chan comedy "The Tuxedo" and the Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy "Sweet Home Alabama."

Two films made a big splash in the arthouse world, each registering strapping per-theater averages of about $17,000. (By contrast, "Barbershop" averaged a solid $7,000).

Disney's Walt Disney Studios opened the Japanese animated hit "Spirited Away" in 26 theaters for total receipts of $450,000. The erotic drama "Secretary" typed up $19,000 from 11 theaters. It was released by Lions Gate Films, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the September 20-23 weekend, according to studio figures released Monday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

Title Gross

1. Barbershop .......... $12,817,223

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $38,393,266

2. The Banger Sisters .......... $10,037,846

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $10,037,846

3. My Big Fat Greek Wedding .......... $9,748,969

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $124,052,987

4. Ballistic: Ecks vs. Severs .......... $7,010,474

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $7,010,474

5. The Four Feathers .......... $6,857,879

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $6,857,879

6. One Hour Photo .......... $4,631,662

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $21,746,002

7. Signs .......... $3,500,717

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $217,941,210

8. Swimfan .......... $3,486,197

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $24,445,584

9. Stealing Harvard .......... $3,303,778

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $10,605,755

10. Trapped .......... $3,210,765

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $3,210,765

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  Holy cow did the new movies bomb that came out this week.  Nothing made an impact.  Goldie Hawn continues to be anti box office as she has yet to be in a hit movie since Private Benjamin.  Ballistic did not look good enough in its previews to bring out the instant action movie crowd.  Antonio Banderas can't be understood when he talks, and Lucy Liu is too cute to be covered up the way she is in the movie.  Don't make a movie based on a video game when no one has ever heard of the video game.  Four Feathers tried to be a big epic movie with Oscar possibilities.  As always is the case, the trailer is everything.  The one for Four Feathers is awful and the plot is never clear.  In fact, the part with Heath Ledger in the Arab group looks a whole lot like John Walker Lindh who is known as the American Taliban.  Not a good time to release a movie like that at this time of year.  Trapped is another movie damaged by bad timing.  It deals with kidnapping when real life kidnapping makes it no longer an entertaining plot for the movies.  Also, Charlize Theron may look like the hottest South African in the world, but her face still cannot put an ass in the stadium seats.  This is place holder box office report due to the lack of film interest.  Next week will be a full review of Sweet Home Alabama as the box office report starts to get back on track.  Bye for now.