Affleck Takes Box-Office Honors

Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan exploded onto movie screens this weekend, sending box-office leader "Star Wars" into second place behind Affleck's "The Sum of All Fears." It debuted as the top weekend film with $31.2 million.

"Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones" grossed $20.7 million in its third weekend to raise its total to $232 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Attack of the Clones" clearly will finish well below "Spider-Man," making it the first "Star Wars" installment that failed to become the year's top-grossing film.

"Spider-Man" continues to spin its web of success, coming in at No. 3 with $14.5 million in its fifth weekend, lifting its gross to $354 million. The movie will pass the $357 million total of "Jurassic Park" this week to become the No. 5 film on the all-time domestic chart.

The weekend's other new release, Eddie Griffin's "blaxploitation" spoof "Undercover Brother," opened in fourth place with $12.1 million.

After a nearly four-month run of rising revenues, the overall box office slipped. The top 12 films took in $116 million, off 5 percent from the same weekend last year, when strong holdovers "Pearl Harbor" and "Shrek" dominated the market.

"Fears" opened stronger than the previous Jack Ryan films, reports The Early Show's entertainment contributor Laurie Hibberd. "The Hunt for Red October" opened with $17.2M, "Patriot Games" opened with $18.5M and "Clear and Present Danger" opened with $20.3M.

It was not, however, Affleck's top opening. Last summer's epic "Pearl Harbor" opened with $75.2 and 1998's Armageddon opened with $36.0.

In "The Sum of All Fears," Affleck plays a CIA analyst trying to unravel a terrorist plot to rekindle U.S.-Russia tensions by launching a nuclear attack on American soil.

Hollywood has tread lightly on terrorist topics since the Sept. 11 attacks, but the film's tough terrorism images did not bother audiences, said Wayne Lewellen, head of distribution for Paramount, which released "Sum of All Fears."

"You don't want to put something in the marketplace that people might consider offensive or in bad taste," Lewellen said. "But we've given them enough time since the incident. I think the public is ready to move on, quite honestly."

Still to come this summer are several eagerly awaited movies and sequels including "The Bourne Identity," which opens June 14; Tom Cruise's "Minority Report" on June 21; "Men In Black 2" on July 3; "Stuart Little 2" on July 19; and "Austin Powers In Goldmember" on July 26.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Sum of All Fears," $31.2 million.
   
2. "Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones," $20.7 million.
   
3. "Spider-Man," $14.5 million.
   
4. "Undercover Brother," $12.1 million.
   
5. "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron," $10.7 million.
   
6. "Insomnia," $9.8 million.
   
7. "Enough," $6.8 million.
   
8. "About a Boy," $4.1 million.
   
9. "Unfaithful," $3 million.
   
10. "The New Guy," $1.5 million.