‘First Knight’ Was Really Third

The stars continue to shine on “Apollo 13,” allowing the space flick to cruise on as No. 1 at the box office for the second straight week.

Featuring Tom Hanks as astronaut Jim Lovell, the Ron Howard film earned $19.6 million to up its total to $65.6 million, according to figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co.

“Apollo 13” edged out the week’s top debuts. “Species,” a low-rent “Alien,” snared No. 2 with a $17.2 million take, while “First Knight” barely edged out “Pocahontas” for No. 3 ($10.9 million).

Disney’s take on American history grossed $10.8 million.

Powered by its record-breaking openingday gross, “Batman Forever” has earned some $154.9 million in its four weeks of release. The third edition of the series, and the first starring Val Kilmer as the title character, checked in at No. 5 for the week by earning $9.3 million.

And though it has made just $2.4 million in five weeks of release, the independent feature “Smoke” continues to do well in limited release. Directed by Wayne Wang, and starring Harvey Keitel and William Hurt, the art film averaged $4,604 in each of the 124 locations at which it played.

Only the top three films fared better on a per-location basis: “Apollo 13” (2,200 locations, $8,925 per), “Species” (2,310 locations, $7,429 per) and “First Knight” (2,161 locations, $5,024 per).

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo