Diesel fuels 'XXX' to second weekend at top of box office with $22 million

LOS ANGELES -- Spies and space invaders were bigger draws at theaters this weekend than surfer women.

Vin Diesel's espionage thriller "XXX" remained the No. 1 movie for a second straight weekend, taking in $22.1 million to push its 10-day total to $84 million.

"Signs," starring Mel Gibson as a farmer fending off hostile visitors from space, came in at No. 2 again with $19.4 million, raising its 17-day take to $150.5 million.

"Blue Crush," starring Kate Bosworth, Michelle Rodriguez and Sanoe Lake as die-hard Hawaiian surfers, debuted in third place with $14.2 million.

The weekend's other major release, Eddie Murphy's sci-fi comedy "The Adventures of Pluto Nash," bombed with just $2.2 million, coming in at No. 10. The movie, which cost about $90 million, was not screened in advance for critics, generally a sign that it's a stinker.

"Unfortunately, every studio at some point has to face disappointing results from one of your films," said Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., which released "Pluto Nash." "You only hope they're few and far between."

In narrow release, Gwyneth Paltrow's scholarly romance "Possession" debuted with a respectable $1.6 million. The German-language food flick "Mostly Martha," about feuding restaurant chefs, opened strongly with $42,000 in two New York City theaters and expands to the top 10 markets next weekend.

Sony, which released "Spider-Man," "Men in Black II," "XXX" and "Mr. Deeds," this weekend broke the Hollywood record for highest one-year revenues by a single studio. Sony edged past the previous record of $1.27 billion, which the same studio set in 1997 when its releases included "Men in Black," "Air Force One" and "My Best Friend's Wedding."

"This has been a dream year for the studio," said Amy Pascal, chairman of Sony's Columbia Pictures.