"The Scorpion King" laid its sting on the competition this past weekend and held on to the top box-office spot for a second straight weekend.

The Rock's action-packed adventure tale bested not only the tense thriller "Changing Lanes" — it cooked all of the weekend's major new flicks, including "Jason X" and "Life or Something Like It," according to the Associated Press,

"The Scorpion King," the Rock's first starring picture and a spin-off from the "Mummy" series, took in $17.6 million. "Changing Lanes," which pits Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson against each other, swerved up right behind it, holding down the runner-up spot with $9 million.

Angelina Jolie's stab at romantic comedy, "Life or Something Like It," slid in at an unimpressive third in its opening weekend, taking in a paltry $6.65 million (see [article id="1453625"]"Salt, Jason And A Blonde — This Week's New Flicks"[/article]). "Jason X," the 10th installment of the "Friday the 13th" horror franchise, came in fourth with a similarly disappointing $6.5 million take, considering its flashy trailer that appropriately boasted Drowning Pool's "Bodies." Although Val Kilmer's crystal meth epic "The Salton Sea" failed to crack the top 10, its $175,000 take was strong considering that the off-kilter picture opened in a limited release.

The rest of the top 10 was rounded out by Sandra Bullock's "Murder By Numbers," in at #5 with $6.3 million; "The Rookie" at #6 with $5.4 million; mammoth cartoon "Ice Age" — which has made over $60 million to date — at #7; director David Fincher's "Panic Room" at #8; courtroom drama "High Crimes" at #9 and gross-out girlie comedy "The Sweetest Thing" at #10.

The "Conan the Barbarian"-like "Scorpion King" has made over $60 million dollars since debuting two weeks ago (see [article id="1453519"]"Movie House: Rating The Rock In 'The Scorpion King' "[/article]). Despite having lower opening numbers than the two previous "Mummy" films, the ancient Egyptian sword-fighting romp set an April record in its opening weekend, knocking 1999's "The Matrix" out of the top spot.

Despite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's wishful thinking, "The Scorpion King's" run at the top will likely end after May 3, when Sam Raimi's long-awaited "Spider-Man" finally swings into theaters (see [article id="1453597"]"Movie House: Will 'Spider-Man' Fly?"[/article]).