Terrorism thriller "The Sum of All Fears" swept the box office this weekend,

ousting the latest "Star Wars" installment from the top spot with a $32.2

million take.

The weekend's other big new movie, comedian Eddie Griffin's "Undercover

Brother," offered audiences a far more satirical take on terrorist plots and

explosions (see [article id="1454931"]"Movie House: Spies,

Bombs, Afros Hitting Theater Near You"[/article]). The blaxploitation spoof

finished in fourth place with $12.1 million. ([article id="1454928"]Click for photos[/article] from the movie)

In "The Sum of All Fears," based on the novel by Tom Clancy, Ben Affleck is

CIA agent Jack Ryan, who must get to the bottom of a criminal conspiracy to

detonate a nuclear bomb. The tense and all-too-plausible story line

resonated with moviegoers, who no doubt have found new relevance in

terrorism-related movies in the post-9/11 landscape. ([article id="1454929"]Click for photos[/article] from the movie)

Affleck's Ryan character — previously portrayed on screen by Hollywood

heavyweights Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin — has long maintained a

devoted following. Affleck recently spoke with MTV "Movie House" viewers

about the pressures of stepping into the Jack Ryan franchise, among other

things.

Filmmaker George Lucas, revisiting his own "Star Wars" franchise for the

fifth time, generated another $20.6 million with "Star Wars Episode II:

Attack of the Clones" for an overall three-week total of $232 million.

"Spider-Man" finished right behind it, earning $14.5 million for an

astonishing total of $354 million in just five weeks. ([article id="1454961"]Click for photos[/article] from the movie)

The rest of the top 10 includes the animated "Spirit: Stallion of the

Cimarron" at #5 with $10.7 million; "Memento" director Christopher Nolan's

"Insomnia" at #6 with $9.7 million; J. Lo's "Enough" at #7 with $6.8

million; Hugh Grant's "About a Boy" at #8 with $4.1 million; and

"Unfaithful" at #9 with $2.9 million. "Road Trip" refugee DJ Qualls' "The

New Guy," which finished at #10 with $1.5 million, co-stars Griffin, who now

has bragging rights as the only star with two movies in the top 10.

Next week audiences are in for more CIA action and high-velocity comedy, all

packed into one movie: "Bad Company," starring Chris Rock and Sir Anthony

Hopkins (see [article id="1454603"]"Movie House: Hannibal Lecter

+ Pootie Tang's Daddy = Box Office Gold?"[/article]). Sandra Bullock's

female-led "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," yet another film with

literature as source material, also hits theaters.