‘Spider-Man 2’ still No. 1

Will Farrell’s title character in “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” might chafe at being No. 2, but with an estimated weekend gross of $28 million, Farrell has arrived. Although Sunday’s weekend estimate for the DreamWorks movie came in somewhat lower than some observers had predicted amid stiff competition, it still secures the “Saturday Night Live” alum’s rank as an actor who can open a picture, especially on the heels of his $31-million opening for “Elf.”

“Spider-Man 2” remained at No. 1 with an estimated $46 million, bringing its 10-day total to $257.3 million. The movie passed the $200-million mark in a record eight days, while it took the first film nine. Although starting off slower than the original, the sequel’s pace remains well ahead of the first film’s second-weekend total of $223 million.

The third-place, $15.2-million showing for “King Arthur,” meanwhile, represented the latest in a string of disappointments for Disney (related story in Business), but “Fahrenheit 9/11,” the movie Chief Executive Michael Eisner eighty-sixed from subsidiary Miramax, added an estimated $11 million over the weekend to become the No. 2 documentary of all time behind the Imax movie “The Dream Is Alive.” The total for “Fahrenheit” is about $80.1 million.

MGM’s teenage-girl flick, “Sleepover,” opened in 10th place with about $4.2 million.

Business overall was flat at roughly $145.6 million for all films in release versus the comparable post-Fourth of July weekend last year, according to box-office tracking firm Nielsen EDI.