'Cop' stays on top of box office for second week

LOS ANGELES, Jan 25 (Reuters) - The Kevin James comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" captured the top spot at the North American box office for a second week in a row by edging out "Underworld, Rise of the Lycans."

"Mall Cop" -- which cost only $26 million to make -- sold an estimated $21.5 million worth of tickets over the weekend and has now taken in a surprisingly strong total of $64.8 million in two weeks, distributor Columbia Pictures said on Sunday.

James, the star of the sitcom "The King of Queens," also co-wrote and co-produced "Mall Cop," which has become a bona fide box office hit despite taking a drubbing from critics.

"Underworld," which was released by Screen Gems and is the third film in its series, also had a strong debut with $20.7 million.

Third at the box office was Clint Eastwood's gritty suburban drama "Gran Torino," with $16 million.

Columbia Pictures and Screen Gems both are units of Sony Corp. (6758.T) (SNE.N).

"Gran Torino" was released by Warner Bros, a unit of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N).

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb, editing by Vicki Allen)