By Sarah Tippit

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Ben Affleck affirmed his superhero status at the North American box office over the weekend as comic book thriller "Daredevil" outpaced four new films that opened nationwide on Friday, according to studio estimates issued Sunday.

For the second week in a row, the Marvel Comics adaptation starring Affleck as a visually impaired attorney who fights crime by night took the No. 1 spot, grossing $18.9 million, according to industry box office service Exhibitor Relations. The film edged past the bawdy buddy comedy "Old School," which opened at No. 2 with $17.5 million.

Friday-through-Sunday ticket sales for "Daredevil," released by 20th Century Fox, dipped 53 percent from the $47.3 million grossed during last week's four-day Presidents Day holiday weekend, said studio distribution president, Bruce Snyder.

However, Snyder said he was pleased with the numbers given the competition "Daredevil" faced.

"Even though 53 percent sounds like a bit of a drop, it's pretty good. The cumulative gross so far is $70.3 million. And with 'Old School' coming in and capturing young male audiences, I'm very delighted with this number. It's a pretty healthy marketplace any time you have another movie playing to the same demographic," Snyder said.

"Daredevil," directed by Mark Steven Johnson, co-stars TV heroine Jennifer Garner and Irish heartthrob Colin Farrell, and reportedly cost more than $80 million to make. Fox is a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc. Marvel Comics is a unit of Marvel Enterprises Inc, which receives an unspecified share of gross profits from the movie.

In the No. 2 spot was the DreamWorks frat house farce "Old School," starring Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell as three men in their 30s who just want to escape life, drink beer and chase women.

Last week's No. 2 film, "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days," dropped to No. 3 with $11.9 million for the weekend. The romantic comedy, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey and released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc. , has grossed an estimated $64.9 million to date.

Leading Oscar nominee "Chicago" slipped to No. 5 from No. 3 as it grossed $8.5 million for the weekend, boosting its box office tally so far to $94.4 million.

The musical will compete in 13 categories, including best picture, at the Academy Awards on March 23. The film was released by Walt Disney Co.'s Miramax Films, whose other best-picture contender, Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," fell from the box office top 10 this week after grossing more than $73 million.

Holding steady at No. 4, "The Jungle Book 2," Disney's low-budget sequel to the 1967 cartoon, grossed $8.6 million, down from $15.1 million a week earlier. So far, the animated adventure featuring Haley Joel Osment as the voice of the wolf-reared youngster Mowgli and John Goodman as his bear pal Baloo, has tallied $25.1 million in ticket sales.

A Disney film also claimed the No. 7 slot over the weekend. "Shanghai Knights," a period comedy starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, fell two places from No. 5 with $6.4 million in its third weekend; its total rose to $44.4 million. The film was released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures unit.

Three other new films rounded out the top 10 list with hefty returns. Among them was two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey's death penalty drama "The Life of David Gale," which ranked No. 6 with $7.2 million. "The Life of David Gale," which co-stars Kate Winslet, was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal.

Warner Bros.' Civil War epic "Gods and Generals" opened at No. 8 with $4.8 million. Starring Jeff Daniels as Union Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, Robert Duvall as Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and Stephen Lang as Gen. "Stonewall" Jackson, the film was based on the best-selling novel by Jeff Shaara. Warner Bros. is a unit of AOL Time Warner Inc.

Taking No. 9 was United Artists' "Dark Blue," starring Kurt Russell as a tough cop caught up in a scandal following the 1992 Los Angeles riots, with $3.8 million. United Artists is a unit of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office for the Feb. 21-23 wekend, according to studio figures released Tuesday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Three-day Cumulative

1. Daredevil .......... $18,092,309

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $69,471,858

2. Old School .......... $17,453,216

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $17,453,216

3. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days .......... $11,590,320

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $64,621,440

4. The Jungle Book 2 .......... $8,709,662

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $25,169,387

5. Chicago .......... $8,241,306

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $94,094,784

6. The Life of David Gale .......... $7,117,225

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $7,117,225

7. Shanghai Knights .......... $6,507,878

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $44,509,866

8. Gods and Generals .......... $4,675,246

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $4,675,246

9. Dark Blue .......... $3,880,688

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $3,880,688

10. The Recruit .......... $3,414,889

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $44,330,457

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  Daredevil has dropped quite a bit from its opening weekend, but it should still hit the $100 million mark before its all over.  However, a sequel may be unlikely since I am not feeling the passion for this film that Spider-man and X-Men have had.  Old School is the big new release this week and a full review is next.

The number one thing a comedy must do is be funny. Old School is funny. Luke Wilson plays Mitch. He has just found out his girlfriend is a swinger and has sex with guys and girls at the same time various times during the week. That does not sit well with him so he moves out and takes up residence in a house near a college campus. His best friends, Beanie (Vince Vaughn) and Frank (Will Ferrell) try to cheer him up by turning his house into a dorm for outcast students looking to fit in. Hilarity then ensues. Old School is another in a long line of remakes of "Animal House." All sorts of debauchery occurs and much of it is laugh out loud hilarious. The best guy in the movie is Vince Vaughn who does very little physical comedy as much of his humor is is natural wit and his relationship with his young child which to me was the funniest part of the film. Vaughn's quick cadence of delivering his "my thoughts on life" raps is quite good and could have been done more in the movie. It sounds like he is making up his dialogue on the spot and the script was thrown out. Will Ferrell is supposed to be the guy the audience can't wait to see what he will do next because he is so funny character. Ferrell is excellent here too as he takes bits and pieces of his classic Saturday Night Live bits and uses them in more adult ways. He gets drunk, he streaks, he gets shot with a elephant dart gun, and even does some rhythm gymnastics. He is all about the physical comedy while Vaughn was more about the mental. They complement each other well. The weak link is Luke Wilson. He is the straight man, and he never gets to do the crazy thing to get the big laugh. He is only funny when people around him are acting funny. Wilson's Mitch becomes a godlike figure on campus and is revered by all who know him for his hosting of wild frat parties with Snoop Dogg. Wilson just walks through the entire picture with very little energy. He can be a good actor in other things, but he seemed uncomfortable in this very broad comedy. Old School is funny and will entertain those expecting to laugh at dumb stuff. There is an effort to make you care about the three main guys especially Frank and his relationship with his wife. Mitch is very boring, but he is given lots of screen time to get to know him and his boring attitude does help make it funnier when people think he is this wild child. Jeremy Piven shows up as Dean Pritchard who is totally against the three guys having a fraternity on campus due to an old score left unsettled. Piven tries too hard to be funny in this very common evil dean role. Old School was very funny overall, so I am going to recommend it. Final Review: 3 stars out of 5; B-; 6 1/2 out of 10; thumbs up.