Queen of the Damned still might not be able to claim sovereignty over the box office.

Denzel Washington's John Q set a President's Day record opening with its four-day tally of $23.6 million, beating previous holder The Wedding Singer's $21.9 million. Its three-day gross was $20.2 million, representing Washington's second-best opening behind the $22.5 million earned in October by Training Day.

Unlike critics, audiences responded enthusiastically to a film that seemingly endorses terrorism as a means of cutting through bureaucratic red tape. Washington plays a father who takes hostage a Chicago emergency room in order to secure a heart transplant for his dying son.

Training Day took $13.3 million in its second weekend, a tally that John Q can easily equal. If so, John Q will likely end up with a total close to Training Day's $76.2 million. It has $25.1 million through Tuesday.

Women are "slaves" 4 Britney Spears. The pop siren's film debut Crossroads opened with a sturdy $17 million during the four-day holiday, with 84 percent of the comedy's audience comprised of young women. Crossroads' three-day take was $14.5 million, or $2.4 million better than the $12.1 million taken in its opening weekend in January by fellow singer Mandy Moore's A Walk to Remember. Crossroad' $2.4 million Monday take equals the three-day opening for Mariah Carey's disastrous Glitter, which ended up with just $4.2 million.

Unlike A Walk to Remember, Crossroads did not endure a drastic drop in business during the week because of fans having to observe school-related curfews. It made a strong $814,000 on Tuesday, for a total of $17.8 million.

Spears' grand entrance resulted in A Walk to Remember dropping an expected 42 percent in its fourth weekend. Still, A Walk to Remember enjoyed three strong weekends, and has $35.9 million through Monday, on the strength on its rather chaste content. If word spreads this weekend that Crossroads is substantially racier, Spears might have to make do with matching A Walk to Remember's second weekend of $8.8 million. Regardless, Spears looks set to sing her way to a total $40 million.

Families couldn't resist a Return to Never Land. Once planned as a direct-to-video project, the Peter Pan sequel flew away with an excellent $15.6 million four-day opening. That's better than the $13.4 million that Disney's animated Recess: School's Out made during last year's President's Day holiday weekend.

Tinkerbell used her magic Monday. With children out from school, Return to Never Land earned $3.7 million, beating John Q's $3.3 million. Return to Never Land should continue to play well with families--competition does not arrive until The Time Machine starts ticking March 8--and earn a total $50 million. It has $16.5 million through Tuesday.

Return to Never Land did not cause significant harm to fellow Disney comedy Snow Dogs, which dropped just 28 percent in its fifth week, from $7.1 million to $5.1 million ($6.7 million four-day total). The Cuba Gooding Jr. Alaska adventure has $68.1 million through Monday, justifying Disney's efforts to rush a sequel into production.

Big Fat Liar, with Frankie Muniz exacting revenge upon greedy Hollywood producer Paul Giamatti, continued to make young audiences laugh. The comedy eased a mere 25 percent in its second weekend, from $11.5 million to $8.7 million ($11.4 million four-day total). Telling lies clearly pays dividends, as Big Fat Liar has $25.6 million through Tuesday. A total $40 million looks possible.

Bruce Willis lost the last time he faced The Siege co-star Denzel Washington, when Bandits failed to unseat Training Day in October as the nation's No. 1 film. Willis lost again this weekend, as the World War II drama Hart's War earned a disheartening $8.9 million during the four-day weekend ($7.7 million Friday through Sunday). That represents Willis' worst opening since Last Man Standing debuted in 1996 with a weak $7 million, on its way to a total $18 million.

Hart's War, an unusual courtroom thriller set in a POW camp, doesn't have the romantic interludes that helped Pearl Harbor or Enemy at the Gates connect with audiences. Its opening does match that of last summer's World War II flop, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which debuted with $7.2 million. Hart's War should claw its way to equaling the lackluster $25.5 million that Captain Corelli's Mandolin strummed up. It has $9.5 million through Tuesday.

The courtroom dynamics of Hart's War were obviously no match for the bloody gunplay of Black Hawk Down. Now in its fifth weekend in wide release, director Ridley Scott's Somalia-set war epic slid by just 22 percent--from $8 million to $6.2 million ($7.2 million four-day total)--in the wake of receiving four Oscar nominations. Black Hawk Down has $96.9 million through Tuesday, with it likely to cross $100 million by Saturday or Sunday. That would give Scott his third consecutive $100 million film, following Gladiator and Hannibal.