The Sum of ‘Fears’ Again Adds Up to No. 1

The nuclear terrorism thriller “The Sum of All Fears” continued to add up with moviegoers, taking in $18.7 million to remain the No. 1 film for a second weekend.

“Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” opened in second place with $16.35 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

“Bad Company,” another film about a stray nuclear device, proved a bit of a bomb. It premiered in fourth place with just $10.5 million.

Rounding out the top five were the year’s biggest hits. “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones” was No. 3 with $13.9 million, lifting its total to $255 million after 25 days. “Spider-Man” came in fifth with $10 million for a 38-day total of $370.1 million.

The industry rebounded after last weekend, when the overall box office slumped for the first time in nearly four months. The top 12 movies this weekend grossed $101.7 million, up about 8% from the same weekend last year.

Still, it was a relatively quiet weekend compared with most of May, when “Spider-Man” and “Attack of the Clones” drove up revenue by 50% or more each weekend.

“The Sum of All Fears,” starring Ben Affleck in an adaptation of the Tom Clancy bestseller, has taken in $61.8 million in 10 days and should wind up topping $100 million.

“Ya-Ya Sisterhood” stars Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Ashley Judd, Maggie Smith and James Garner in a tale of lifelong friends trying to repair a mother-daughter rift. The film drew a mostly female crowd but got a positive reaction from male viewers, too, said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released the movie.

“Bad Company,” one of several terrorism flicks delayed last fall after the Sept. 11 attacks, stars Anthony Hopkins as a CIA boss who recruits a street hustler (Chris Rock) to foil terrorists trying to obtain a nuclear device.

The film got generally good scores from audiences, leaving distributor Disney puzzled over its weak performance.

“You can sit there and say, ‘They liked it; what went wrong?’ ” said Chuck Viane, the studio’s head of distribution. “And you don’t know.”

“Attack of the Clones” continues to slump well behind its predecessor, “Episode I The Phantom Menace,” which was approaching $300 million by this point three years ago. Factoring in ticket prices that are about 16% higher today, “Attack of the Clones” grossed less than half the $25.6 million “The Phantom Menace” did in its corresponding fourth weekend.