Pirates Plunder BoxOffice

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest", Walt Disney Co.'s adventure-comedy sequel, starring Johnny Depp as the woozy, swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow, shattered the weekend box-office record with an estimated take of $132 million in the United States and Canada and went past the previous record holder "Spider-Man," which grossed $114.8 million in its first 3 days of release in 2002.

"Pirates" also broke the single-day record when it opened Friday with ticket sales of $55.5 million, eclipsing "Star Wars: Episode III Return of the Sith," which grossed $50 million when it came out May 19, 2005. The mania continued Saturday, as it became the first film to cross the $100-million mark in two days. Playing at 4,133 theaters — the widest opening in Disney's history — the film averaged $31,945 per venue. As we predicted last week, the weekend's second-biggest movie, "Superman Returns" went down to the second spot averaging $5,375 per location for a total of $21.9 million.

In this sequel Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) discovers he owes a blood debt to the legendary Davey Jones, Captain of the ghostly Flying Dutchman. With time running out, Jack must find a way out of his debt or else be doomed to eternal damnation and servitude in the afterlife. Making matters worse, Sparrow's problems manage to interefere with the wedding plans of a certain Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), who are forced to join Jack on yet another one of his misadventures.

Gore Verbinski is the director. The film is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of adventure violence, including frightening images. Here is the official site: pirates.movies.com.