In its second week of release Spider-Man 2 maintained the top spot in the box office derby, pulling in an estimated $46 million and running its cumulative total to more than $257 million.  Most of the experts picked Spidey to repeat as box office champ this weekend, but few thought his dominance would be so pronounced.  Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, the heavily promoted comedy starring Will Ferrell, came in a distant second with an estimated weekend total of $28 million.  Disney's King Arthur, which took in only an estimated $15 million, looks increasingly like it will be yet another chronic under-performer in that studio's line of 2004 disappointments, which already includes The Alamo and Around the World in 80 Days.  Anchorman, which achieved a per-screen gross of  $9,000, was the only film in wide release within hailing distance of Spider-Man 2's $11,000 per screen take.

Shrek 2, appears to be losing steam with a per screen average of just $2100, but the box office champ of 2004 (at least so far) remained in the top 10 (at number 9) and brought in $4.5 million bringing its total to an amazing $418.5 million after eight weeks of release.  Spider-Man 2 is doing well enough so far to have a chance to overtake the not-so-jolly green giant in this year's 'Battle of the Sequels,' but the Marvel-based movie must continue to demonstrate box office staying power in order to surpass Shrek 2.