‘Anchorman’ makes debut in No. 2 spot at box office

With three hits in a row, former “Saturday Night Live” funny man Will Ferrell has shown he’s no fluke at the movies.

Ferrell’s comedy about a ‘70s TV news star, “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” opened in second place at the weekend box office with an estimated $28 million, behind only blockbuster “Spider-Man 2” in its second weekend.

That follows in the wake of Ferrell’s “Elf,” which debuted at No. 1 last November with $31.1 million in its opening weekend.

“After last year’s hits ‘Old School’ and ‘Elf,’ his star is on the rise,” Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, says of Ferrell. “People are really liking his brand of comedy.”

“Spider-Man 2,” meanwhile, racked up another $46 million over the weekend, becoming the fastest movie to reach $200 million, doing so in eight days.

It has topped $250 million in its first 12 days, about $20 million more than the original “Spider-Man” had at the same point. That improves its chances of exceeding the $403.7 million total domestic take for “Spider-Man,” the top-grossing movie of 2002.

“We’re on the right path, but that’s a big number. I wouldn’t be comfortable saying anything beyond that,” said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, which released both “Spider-Man” movies.

“I’m almost afraid to jinx it.”

Sony says the movie also has taken in $115 million abroad and has yet to open in such major markets as the United Kingdom and France.

A king and his queen failed to take the box office crown for “King Arthur.” The $110 million movie starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley fell on its sword and brought in just $15.2 million over its opening weekend to finish in third place.

The weekend’s other new wide release, the girl-power flick “Sleepover,” debuted at a weak No. 10 with $4.2 million.

“King Arthur,” a different take on the Arthurian legends that drops the sword-and-sorcery themes and sets the story toward the end of Roman rule in Britain, is the latest in a string of anemic debuts for distributor Disney.

It follows such Disney commercial duds as “Around the World in 80 Days,” “The Alamo,” “Raising Helen” and “Home on the Range.”

Pandya, of BoxOfficeGuru.com, blamed the poor showing by “King Arthur” on a lack of star power.

” ‘King Arthur’ continues the curse of the medieval knight movies,” added Brandon Gray of boxofficemojo.com.

Citing such recent bombs as “Black Knight” and “Timeline,” Gray said: “Battle pictures really only find an audience if they are about ancient wars or American wars.”

Another war-themed film — “Fahrenheit 9/11,” Michael Moore’s documentary about U.S. involvement in Iraq — took in an estimated $11 million over the weekend, good for fourth place. It already has earned $80.1 million and is expected to reach $100 million, a first for a documentary.

Pandya says he expects “9/11” to get a moviegoing bounce from the Democratic National Convention July 26-29 and the Republican convention Aug. 30-Sept. 2.

The summer box office is about 11 percent ahead of last year, at $2.28 billion.