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While it's no surprise the new comic book actioner Daredevil took the No. 1 spot on the weekend's list, the fact it simply stomped 'em with a whopping $43.5 million* is truly astounding, making it the best President's Day weekend opening ever in box office history. It's also the second best February opening ever, behind MGM's Hannibal, which took in $58 million when it opened Feb. 9, 2001.

After all the box office business was sucked up by Daredevil, little was left over for the rest. With the numbers going down considerably, last weekend's first place winner How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days dropped to second at $19 million and the Oscar-nominated Chicago, in its first wide release, took in $12.6 million, holding onto third place for the second weekend in a row.

The other new opener, the animated sequel The Jungle Book 2, took the fourth spot with a small but sufficient $11.9 million, while last weekend's No. 2 Shanghai Knights took fifth with $11.4 million.

THE TOP TEN

Proving that audiences either wanted to see a super cool comic book hero, watch hunky Ben Affleck or simply escape the impending doom and gloom heralded on the CNNs and FoxNews channels of the world, 20th Century Fox's PG-13 Daredevil swept up with an ESTIMATED $43.5 million at 3,471 theaters (that's an amazing $12,532 per theaters).

With a budget of nearly $80 million, Daredevil opened at the high end of expectations, but the figure was not "shocking," Bruce Snyder, Fox's president of domestic theatrical distribution, told Reuters. Setting the record for the President's Day holiday, the film beat previous record holder John Q, the Denzel Washington drama that opened February 2002 at $23 million.

Even though Daredevil pales in comparison to the huge opening of last year's Spider-Man (at $114 million), Snyder thinks the more obscure Daredevil obviously has its supporters.

"The first tier of comic books would be Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men. This would probably be a second-tier character, but from the audiences that showed up Friday night, there's a big fan base," Snyder told the Associated Press.

Daredevil centers on blind attorney Matt Murdock, whose other four senses function with superhuman acuteness. By day he is a lawyer representing the poor and defenseless, but by night he is Daredevil--a relentless avenger of justice.

Directed by Mark Steven Johnson, it stars Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Colin Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan.

Paramount Pictures' PG-13 romantic comedy How To Lose a Guy, about a magazine columnist whose assignment is to meet, woo and then do all the wrong things to lose a guy in 10 days, still managed to offer an alternative to superhero action. Last week's winner at the box office (and fourth best February opening) came in second with an ESTIMATED $19 million (-20%) at 2,923 theaters ($6,500 per theater). Its total haul so far is approximately $47.7 million.

Directed by Donald Petrie, it stars Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey.

Holding on to its third place spot, Miramax Films opened the PG-13 Chicago to its first wide release and watched it sing and dance its way to an ESTIMATED $12.6 million (+17%) at 2,268 theaters (+427 theaters; $5,556 per theater). Hoping to gain some serious momentum after its recent 13 Academy Award nominations, the film, now in its eighth week, has accumulated approximately $80.7 million to date.

Directed by Rob Marshall, it stars Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere.

The other newcomer on the block, Buena Vista's G-rated animated The Jungle Book 2, took fourth place, boogying to the tune of an ESTIMATED $11.9 million at 2,808 theaters ($4,238 per theater).

In the sequel to the 1967 original The Jungle Book, Mowgli and his friends are back for more adventures as the young boy tries to adjust to his new life in a human village while missing his old animal pals back in the jungle.

Directed by Steve Trenbirth, it uses the vocal talents of Haley Joel Osment, John Goodman, Bob Joles and Tony Jay.

*Box office estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations, Inc.