By Dean Goodman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Ben Affleck switched from tabloid star to box office superhero over the holiday weekend as his new action movie "Daredevil" topped the North American box office in its first outing.

According to studio estimates issued Sunday, "Daredevil" grossed $43.5 million its first three days of release, while last week's champ, "How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days," made $19 million, knocking it down to No. 2 on the list.

Based on a relatively obscure Marvel comic book first published in 1964, "Daredevil" stars Affleck as a blind attorney who is a crime-fighting vigilante by night. The film, which reportedly cost more than $80 million, was released by Twentieth Century Fox, a unit of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc.

"Daredevil" opened at the high end of expectations, but the figure was not "shocking," said Bruce Snyder, Fox's president of domestic theatrical distribution.

It set a new record for the Presidents Day holiday, beating the three-day, $20 million debut of the Denzel Washington drama "John Q." last year. "Daredevil" also ranks as the No. 2 February opener of all time after 2001's "Hannibal" ($58 million).

But its opening pales against that of Marvel's "Spider-Man," which set a three-day record of $114.8 million last May. The webslinger is better known than Daredevil, although Affleck brought some notoriety to the table thanks to the media interest over his relationship with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez. "Daredevil," directed by Mark Steven Johnson, co-stars Jennifer Garner and Colin Farrell.

Marvel is a unit of Marvel Enterprises Inc.

"Daredevil" actually opened in many theaters Thursday night, but the haul was under $1 million and has been rolled into the reported three-day sum, Snyder said.

After 10 days in release, the romantic comedy "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days," starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson, has grossed $47.7 million. The film was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.

The No. 3 slot went to "Chicago," which received 13 Oscar nominations last Tuesday. Its distributor, Miramax Films, did not provide complete data, but industry observers estimate the musical earned about $13 million. Miramax is a unit of Walt Disney Co., which also released the next three movies.

"The Jungle Book 2," a low-budget Walt Disney Pictures sequel to the 1967 musical, opened at No. 4 with a solid $11.9 million. Haley Joel Osment is the voice of the wolf-reared youngster Mowgli, and John Goodman his bear-pal Baloo.

"Shanghai Knights," a period comedy starring Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, fell three places to No. 5 with $11.4 million in its second weekend; its 10-day total rose to $34.6 million.

And the Al Pacino thriller "The Recruit" slipped two places to No. 6 with $6.6 million; its three-week total stands at $38.8 million. Both films were released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures unit.

Among other Oscar contenders, Jack Nicholson's dark comedy "About Schmidt" rose one place to No. 10 with $3.6 million, an 18 percent boost from last weekend. Its total rose to $53.1 million. The film swapped places with "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers," which earned $3.5 million in its 10th weekend, a modest two percent drop; its total rose to $325.3 million.

The films, both released by AOL Time Warner Inc.'s New Line Cinema, landed two and six nominations, respectively.

The Paramount drama "The Hours," which picked up nine nominations, followed at No. 12 with $3.3 million, doubling its haul and theater count from last weekend; its total rose to $26 million. The Academy Awards (news - web sites) will take place March 23.

Reuters/Variety

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Following are the final data for the top 10 movies at the North American box office during the Feb. 14-17 Presidents Day holiday weekend, according to studio figures released Tuesday by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

Film Four-day Cumulative

1. Daredevil .......... $45,033,454

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $45,033,454

2. How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days .......... $20,708,870

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $49,414,670

3. Chicago .......... $14,503,231

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $82,606,872

4. The Jungle Book 2 .......... $14,109,797

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $14,109,797

5. Shanghai Knights .......... $12,796,818

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $35,947,063

6. The Recruit .......... $7,278,557

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $39,410,773

7. Final Destination 2 .......... $6,242,586

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $36,137,621

8. Kangaroo Jack .......... $5,035,455

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $58,954,899

9. Deliver Us From Eva .......... $4,415,505

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $12,281,586

10. The Hours .......... $3,858,532

BOX OFFICE SO FAR: $26,531,638

Reuters/Variety

John L.:  The first superhero movie of the year has been released and it has opened very well.  It's no Spider-man, but for a comic book character that is not that well known, it should be considered a success.  Full review to follow.

Daredevil is one of the most original comic book characters of all time. To come up with the concept of a blind superhero being able to stop evil is just amazing. Stan Lee, the creator of Daredevil, is a genius. That being said, the movie Daredevil, starring Ben Affleck as "the man without fear." is just okay. It stays close to the important parts of Daredevil's origins and main story, but then deviates from those parts in very odd ways. Daredevil is about how when as a young man he was splashed in his face with some toxic waste that blinded him but increased the power of his other four senses as well as giving him a bat sonar like ability to make out different objects in front of him. Due to the fact of living in Hell's Kitchen, he grew up to become a crimefighter on two fronts. First, he became a criminal defense attorney, Matt Murdock, and second he decided to put on "you have to be blind to wear that" red leather with a horned red mask and beat up bad guys at night. The Daredevil character is well known to comic book fans, but the average person on the street most likely has never heard of him. Fortunately the movie takes a good amount of time to explain his origins and that whole part of the movie is very good. The key thing I look for in a superhero movie is the part that tells you how they got their powers and why they fight crime. Spiderman's best part last year was everything that happened before he put on the spandex. Once Murdock grows up, he becomes Ben Affleck and things sort of fall apart. Affleck is fine as Daredevil, but his Murdock is weak. You never really buy into his disability or his talent as an attorney. A more mature looking actor would have helped as Affleck is still too "aww shucks" with his performances. Another thing wrong in the movie is the vicious streak of Daredevil as a superhero. His subway attack on one person is out of character from the comic book as he is willing to kill the bad guys a bit too quickly when a superhero of his type is against that type of thing unless it is absolutely necessary. It violates a code or something. Fortunately it is addressed and becomes a major point of the film, so it is forgiven. The love interest in the film is played by Jennifer Garner as Elektra. I am still unsure of her whole deal as her character is completely underwritten and just magically becomes a vigilante. Her reasoning is established, but so little is done with Elektra as a good foil to Daredevil, she could have been taken out of the script completely without anyone noticing much difference in the final outcomes. Garner looks good and is a fine actress, but scenes that are supposed to be emotional just sort of lay there for her. Michael Clarke Duncan plays Wilson Fisk, The Kingpin of Crime. Duncan is funny in the role and despite the racial difference from the comic book inspiration, looks the part when he wears the big suits. Unfortunately, his Kingpin is given very little screen time and his final confrontation with Daredevil is very weak. In the comic, Kingpin has wreaked havoc over Daredevil's life much like Lex Luthor to Superman or The Joker to Batman. Heck, Kingpin has had epic encounters with Spiderman for decades in the comics. He is one of my all time favorite comic book villains and is wasted here. All the fun goes to Colin Farrell as Bullseye the marksman assassin who never misses. Farrell finally is allowed to drop his horrible American accent and use his natural Irish brogue throughout the film. He steals the picture and gives one of the better movie villain performances in a long time. Bullseye is a major Daredevil villain in the comics and the big story between him, Daredevil, and Elektra that happened in print is re-created here in very dramatic fashion. I am not a Colin Farrell fan, but he is the only reason to waste your time sitting through this movie. The movie does the one thing I can't stand that the recent superhero movies like to do and that is have the superhero fight the villain with their secret identity exposed. Batman and Spiderman did it and now Daredevil has 2 scenes that completely expose him as Matt Murdock, superhero. When Murdock first meets Elektra in the film she decides to spar with the guy in the middle of a playground. Why a woman would fight a blind mind in the first place is beyond me, and why Murdock would show that he is a well trained blind fighter to the public at large is a mystery. That scene was there just to add another action sequence so the audience would not fall asleep again. It just pissed me off. Clark Kent doesn't wear those glasses for nothing, and neither does Murdock. I can see a sequel being made to this movie and a franchise coming from it since if done right, Daredevil is a fascinating character. Focus on one villain, show more of Murdock in court, and have less computer generated jumping effects of Daredevil seemingly fly across the city when that is not one of his powers. If a sequel is made, I will be surprised if they keep Affleck in the role. However, I believe it would behoove them to bring back Farrell as Bullseye. He was gold. Final Review: 2 1/2 stars out of 5; 6 out of 10; B-; thumbs up.