Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest Continues Monstrous Box Office Run

Johnny Depp and his Pirates of the Caribbean are truly stealing the summer box office booty.

The blockbuster sequel Dead Man’s Chest held strong as the top movie for the third straight weekend, hauling in $35 million and lifting its total to $321.7 million after just 17 days.

Not even the Disney film’s 2003 predecessor, The Curse of the Black Pearl, did similar business, only managing $305 million over its entire six-month run.

But the movie didn’t just crush its own mark, it also manhandled all of the weekend’s new competition.

Sony’s family spook-imation Monster House, which follows a group of kids at a mysterious neighbour’s home, debuted at No. 2 with $23 million.

Right on its heels was M. Night Shyamalan’s Lady in the Water. The adult fairy tale stars Paul Giamatti as an apartment manager who discovers a water nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) living beneath his complex’s swimming pool.

And if you think that premise sounds weak, you weren’t alone. At $18.2 million, the movie was the softest debut ever for writer-director Shyamalan.

That sort of failure following success could also be applied to Kevin Smith’s Clerks II. The follow-up to his 1994 independent-film hit about two slackers at dead end jobs premiered in the six hole with a paltry $9.6 million.

The only new wide release to do worse was Uma Thurman and Luke Wilson’s My Super Ex-Girlfriend, a comedy about a superhero taking revenge against the boyfriend that broke her heart. The film debuted at number seven with $8.7 million.

Still, thanks to Depp and Pirates, overall business rose with the top 12 movies taking in $143.2 million – an 11 per cent boost from the same weekend last year. So far in 2006 attendance is up 3.8 per cent.

“That’s really attributable to the strength of Pirates of the Caribbean, because that’s when the tide turned,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

On its 16th day of release Saturday, Dead Man’s Chest became the fastest movie to cross the $300-million mark, beating the previous best pace of 17 days set last year by Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

And experts don’t expect the take to stop there. Within a week it could pass the $339.7 million domestic take of Finding Nemo to become Disney’s top-grossing movie.

“There are lots of plateaus for us to continue to strive for,” said Chuck Viane, Disney’s head of distribution.

  Here’s the rest of the weekend’s top 10, with all figures estimated according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, $35 million.

2. Monster House, $23 million.

3. Lady in the Water, $18.2 million.

4. You, Me and Dupree, $12.8 million.

5. Little Man, $11 million.

6. Clerks II, $9.6 million.

7. My Super Ex-Girlfriend, $8.7 million.

8. Superman Returns, $7.46 million.

9. The Devil Wears Prada, $7.43 million.

10. Cars, $4.9 million.

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