Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

``Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' ruled the seven seas with a record $139.8 million domestically over the long Memorial Day weekend, lifting its worldwide total to $404 million. The 3rd ``Pirates'' film starring Johnny Depp as boozy buccaneer Jack Sparrow surpassed the four-day mark of $122.9 million for last year's ``X-Men: The Last Stand,'' the previous record-holder for a Memorial Day weekend.

Their two previous "Pirates" adventures smashed records around the world, with "The Curse of the Black Pearl" garnering more than $650 million worldwide, a figure nearly doubled by "Dead Man's Chest," which became the third highest-grossing movie in international box office history with more than $1-billion, and a gigantic domestic take of $423,315,812, the sixth highest position in history.

But the franchise failed to snatch back the three-day weekend record it lost to this month's ``Spider-Man 3,'' whose $151.1 million debut eclipsed the $135.6 million mark for last summer's ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.''

Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and Geoffrey Rush reunite in Walt Disney Pictures'/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' this all new epic tale in the blockbuster series chronicling the fantastical adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow, Captain Barbossa, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann. This time around, the quartet is joined by international superstar Chow Yun-Fat as Captain Sao Feng, the pirate lord of Singapore. Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Gore Verbinski, Captain Jack and the others set sail on the spectacular new adventure, once again laced with lashing of rollicking and irreverent humor, which takes them into new realms of adventure and fantasy.

Here is the official site: pirates.movies.com. The movie is rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action/adventure violence and some frightening images.

The 60th Cannes Festival

The 60th annual Cannes Film Festival opened yesterday as a celebration of celluloid and celebrity, with a lineup including George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Michael Moore and Quentin Tarantino.

The Hong Kong based Director Wong Kar-wai opened the festival Wednesday with "My Blueberry Nights", his first English-language film and the acting debut of singer Norah Jones, who stars as a heartbroken waitress alongside Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Rachel Weisz.

Wong will be joined by several other returning Cannes veterans - four of the 22 directors competing for the coveted Palme d'Or have won the top prize before: Tarantino's gory 'Death Proof' is in the running, as are the Coen brothers' Rio Grande thriller 'No Country for Old Men', Gus Van Sant's 'Paranoid Park' and 'Promise Me This' from Sarajevo-born Emir Kusturica.

The following are among the most-anticipated films: 'Persepolis', an animated adaptation of Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel about growing up after Iran's Islamic revolution; 'The Edge of Heaven' by Turkish-German director Fatih Akin; 'The Man From London' by Hungary's Bela Tarr; and Mexican director Carlos Reygadas' Mennonite melodrama 'Stellet Licht' (Silent Light).

Between now and May 27th, the red carpet on Cannes' beachfront Croisette will glitter with celebrities. George Clooney is due to promote 'Ocean's Thirteen'. Leonardo DiCaprio brings environmental documentary 'The 11th Hour'. Brad Pitt and Jolie are expected to be there - he for 'Ocean's Thirteen', she for 'A Mighty Heart', in which she plays the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.

Michael Moore's 'Sicko', a documentary taking the pulse of the U.S. health care system, is getting its world premiere in an out-of-competition slot. Moore won Palme d'Or in 2004 for 'Fahrenheit 9/11'.