One week after we had the first-ever movie to top the Lycos 50, we have the second-ever movie to top the Lycos 50. This one is a bit less of a surprise, however.

Star Wars searches hit #1 this week as Attack of the Clones hits theatres. Spider-Man falls to #3 with perennial champion Dragonball in between at #2. As we suspected, Clones did not top Spider-Man's all-time opening weekend box office championship.

Star Wars is also part of a war between stars for popularity. This week Clones star Natalie Portman (#17) arrives on the Lycos 50 while Spider-Man star Kirsten Dunst falls off the list. We're very surprised that Anakin himself, Hayden Christensen, doesn't make the Lycos 50 -- in fact, he gets fewer searches than Tobey Maguire got the week Spider-Man came out.

Whenever we rank movies on the Lycos 50, we combine all sequel searches; after all, many searches for Star Wars are actually for Attack of the Clones (or, in another case, searches for Men in Black are usually for MIB II). If we split the searches, Star Wars would be #2 and Attack of the Clones #6.

Oddly enough, the week Attack of the Clones hits theatres, cloning drops off the Lycos 50 after five weeks.

WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR: Just like last week, a teaser trailer shown before a blockbuster revved up the early hype on one of 2003's big films. Last week it was Hulk; this week, The Matrix (#56) nearly made the Lycos 50 after Attack of the Clones was preceded in most theatres by a teaser for parts two and three of the trilogy. The teaser for The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions also appeared online; the films come out in May and November 2003.

DISTURBING VIDEO: On the subject of video, we've remarked several times that news searches are driven by audio and video, particularly when that video is unavailable from conventional news sources. We've known for months that a video existed of the execution of American journalist Daniel Pearl (#4) at the hands of Pakistani terrorists, but while folks searched for it (Pearl was #29 in early March), the video was not to be found online.

This week that changed when a Saudi terrorist group put the video online as an attraction to recruit like-minded anti-Semites and America-haters to its cause. Then, on Tuesday night, CBS aired a brief excerpt of the video -- not the murder itself, but Pearl's last words, in which he proclaims his Judaism before being executed. In addition, Pakistani police believe they discovered Pearl's corpse in Karachi on Friday.

The combination of these events makes Pearl the #4 most-searched topic on Lycos this week. Two-thirds of Pearl searches specifically request the video.

ELITE ADDS ONE: With this week marking 50 straight on the chart, Morpheus (#13) becomes the first topic to join the Lycos 50 Elite since we introduced the feature back in November. In tomorrow's article we'll discuss the latest news on Morpheus, KaZaA (#7), and the rest of the file-swapping programs.

By the way, pioneer program Napster (#44) is back on the list briefly because of news that it nearly went bankrupt this week before being acquired by media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG.

EMINEM VS. DOWNLOADS: Speaking of Internet music downloading, Eminem (#8) climbs into the top ten this week thanks to huge online interest in his new album, The Eminem Show. The rapper has moved the album's release date up to May 28 in order to try to combat rampant Internet bootlegging. Eminem's label, Interscope, is also including a live performance DVD with the first two million copies of the album in order to induce fans into paying for the music instead of downloading it from the Web.

Eminem's not the only popular rap star returning this summer. Nelly, who spent 17 weeks on the list two years ago, releases his new album Nellyville on June 25. Nelly searches are climbing, and he's up to #71 this week.

WWE WATCH: Tracking the name change of America's favorite wrestling promotion, old name WWF stands at 72 percent, new name WWE at 28 percent. Last week, WWF had 87.5 percent. Combined searches fall to #18.

SHORT SUBJECTS: Curiosity about the birth of Rachel's baby gives the TV show Friends (#48) its first-ever appearance on the Lycos 50... Kids' show Spongebob Squarepants (#54) almost makes the Lycos 50 too because of Friday night's House Party special... The Howard Stern effect strikes again -- searches for Star Trek: Enterprise star Jolene Blalock double after a Friday appearance on Stern's show... Even more people are searching for information on the JDBGMGR.EXE computer virus hoax, now at #9... Searches for Playstation 2 (#31) and Xbox (#60) go up after the price of each system is cut from $300 to $200.

NEW THIS WEEK: Natalie Portman, Playstation 2, World Cup, IRS, Napster, Pokemon, Friends, Preakness Stakes.

DROPOUTS: Shakespeare, cloning, dead celebrities Lisa Lopes and Linda Lovelace, Adolf Hitler, Kirsten Dunst, R. Kelly, Rolling Stones, assassinated Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn.

ONE YEAR AGO: Online video, popular this week, was popular last year as well, as a rumored sex tape put Jennifer Lopez at #5. The tape didn't exist then and never has.

TOMORROW: The latest on file-swapping searches.