"Spidey 2" Stuck on Top

Spider-Man has out-slung his latest nemesis, Anchorman.

Spider-Man 2 stuck on top of the box-office charts for the second consecutive weekend, netting $45.2 million from Friday to Sunday. That was only a 49 percent drop-off from its three-day haul amid last weekend's elongated July 4 holiday.

The Spidey sequel's total gross after 12 days is $256.4 million, about 20 percent higher than the original Spider-Man in the same number of days in 2002.

With the arachnid-friendly flick maintaining its grip on the multiplexes, two new films dueled for runner-up honors: Will Ferrell's local news spoof Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Jerry Bruckheimer's pumped-up spin on King Arthur

This just in: It wasn't even close. Ferrell's send-up of TV journalism circa the mid-'70s tuned in $28.4 million in business, nearly twice as much as Arthur, which managed $15.2 million in third.

The weekend's only other notable newbie, the 'tween comedy Sleepover, was a complete snooze, zzz-ing in 10th with just $4.2 million.

Spider-Man 2 continued to perform superheroic feats in all the key box-office stats. The Sony film unspooled in 4,166 sites this weekend--14 more than last--and averaged an amazing $10,845 per.

DreamWorks's PG-13 Anchorman, which costars Christina Applegate as foil to Ferrell's testosterone-addled telejournalist, was broadcast to 3,091 sites, where it averaged $9,193.

"That's a really good number," says Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations, considering Spidey-2 is "cutting into everyone's audience."

Ferrell's best ever opener was last Christmas' Elf, which debuted with $31.1 million in November on its way to $173.3 million, but Anchorman's debut is considerably stronger than the ex-SNLer's other movie last year, Old School, which kicked off with $17.4 million in February 2003.

King Arthur, which Disney had tried to promote as having Pirates of the Caribbean-type appeal, debuted at 3,086 sites, where it only averaged $4,923.

That can't be considered a good omen for the future of the oft-told British tale, which officially opened Wednesday and has grossed $23.6 million. While Arthur does costar Pirates' Keira Knightley, the adventure lacks both the Disney ride recognition factor and the enlivening presence of Johnny Depp, both major aspects in the success of last summer's hey-ho-me-hearties hit. Clive Owen, who plays the fabled king, apparently isn't generating the same sparks. Disney is hopeful the movie will have bigger impact overseas.

In the more-bad-news-for-Mickey category, Michael Moore's controversial Bush-bashing documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 had a higher per-screen average than Arthur--$5,504--earning another $11 million in fourth place. Playing at 2,011 screens, 286 more than on last weekend, the documentary dropped only 32 percent. Fahrenheit has cooked up $80.1 million in three weeks, despite some chains in the Midwest refusing to show it. "Everybody's astounded," says Dergarabedian.

"It's very gratifying," says Steve Rothenberg, executive vice president of theatrical distribution for Lions Gate, which teamed with IFC Films to release Moore's hot doc iafter Disney dumped it. "Our research tells us that people are recommending it to their friends."

Rothenberg says the release would continue to expand next weekend but "very selectively." "It will have playability throughout the summer" at art-house and high-end theaters, he says, but "clearly what we don't know yet is how long it will play in the multiplexes."

Meanwhile, MGM is clearly embarrassed by Sleepover, which stars Spy Kids' Alexa Vega as a junior high graduate on a curfew-breaking scavenge hunt. In what's never a good sign, the PG film wasn't screened for critics before opening at 2,207 sites. The lack of buzz hurt; it averaged only $1,890.

On the flipside, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster had the highest per-screen average in limited release. The unrated IFC Films release, chronicling the hard-rocking heroes, head-banged its way to $15,453 at three sites for $46,359.

The weekend's other new, limited-release doc, Sony Pictures Classics PG-13 surf-soaked Riding Giants, averaged $5,480 average at 26 sites for a total of $142,468.

Overall, Degarabedian says business was "very solid" considering this weekend was slotted between the spectacular success of Spidey 2's Fourth of July fireworks and next weekend's would-be blockbuster, Will Smith's futuristic thriller I, Robot, opening Friday.

The top 12 films grossed $137.8 million, according to final tallies released Monday, down 13 percent from last weekend's huge haul, but still a slight tick up over this time last year, when Pirates of the Caribbean first swung from the yardarm.

Here's a recap of the top 10:

1. Spider-Man 2, $45.2 million
2. Anchorman, $28.4 million
3. King Arthur, $15.2 million
4. Fahrenheit 9/11, $11 million
5. The Notebook, $6.5 million
6. White Chicks, $6.2 million
7. Dodgeball: A True Underdog's Story, $5.7 million
8. The Terminal, $5 million
9. Shrek 2, $4.5 million
10. Sleepover, $4.2 million

(Originally published July 11, 2004 at 12 p.m. PT.)