Pirates sets new world record
2007-05-30 11:55
Los Angeles - Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End has smashed the record for the biggest worldwide opening in history, pulling in $404m over six days, Walt Disney Studios said on Tuesday.
The third in the Pirates series, with Johnny Depp as swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow, busted opening week records in 16 countries from Argentina to Iceland, to Russia, Malaysia and Taiwan, Disney said.
It outpaced the previous world opening record of $382m racked up by Spider-Man 3 just four weeks ago - and the newest Pirates has yet to open in the world's two most populous countries, China and India.
Spider-Man 3 rules in US and Canada
But it failed to break Spider-Man 3's hold on the US and Canada weekend opening record of $151.1m, for a three-day weekend.
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sold $139.8m in tickets over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial opening of the summer movie season.
Altogether the top 12 films - led by three blockbuster sequels, Pirates, Shrek The Third and Spider-Man 3 - pulled in $246.4m in the North American theatres over the weekend, $14.5m higher than last year's Memorial Day weekend total, according to box office specialist Exhibitor Relations.