Los
Angeles
(Reuters):
Pirates
of
the
Caribbean:
Dead
Man's
Chest
raked
in
a
lot
of
doubloons
at
North
American
theaters
over
the
weekend,
making
a
record
132
million
dollars
in
its
first
three
days,
according
to
studio
estimates
issued
yesterday.
Walt
Disney
Co.'s
adventure
sequel,
starring
Johnny
Depp
as
the
flamboyant
Captain
Jack
Sparrow,
surpassed
industry
expectations
of
an
opening
in
the
100
million
dollars
range.
The
previous
three-day
record
of
115
million
dollars
was
set
by
Spider-Man
in
May
2002.
The
Pirates
haul
of
55.5
million
dollars
during
its
first
day
of
release
on
Friday
also
set
a
record
for
single-day
sales,
beating
the
50
million
dollars
earned
on
a
Thursday
in
May
2005
by
Star
Wars:
Episode
III
-
Revenge
of
the
Sith.
Pirates
played
strongly
across
all
age
groups,
Disney
said.
The
studio
said
people
were
buying
tickets
for
multiple
screenings
on
the
same
day.
By
contrast,
2003's
Pirates
of
the
Caribbean:
The
Curse
of
the
Black
Pearl
opened
with
46.8
million
dollars,
and
ended
up
with
305
million
dollars
domestically.
Both
films
were
directed
by
Gore
Verbinski.
Also
returning
to
the
cast
were
British
actors
Keira
Knightley
and
Orlando
Bloom.
A
third
film
is
scheduled
for
release
next
year.
As
has
been
the
case
this
summer,
there
was
a
wide
disconnect
between
critics
and
consumers.
A
New
York
Times
review
said
the
film
''batters
you
with
novelty
and
works
so
hard
to
top
itself
that
exhaustion
sets
in
long
before
the
second
hour
is
over.''
Superman
Returns
slipped
to
No.
2,
making
21.9
million
dollars
in
its
second
weekend
and
taking
the
Man
of
Steel's
12-day
tally
to
141.7
million
dollars.
Distributor
Warner
Bros.
Pictures,
a
unit
of
Time
Warner
Inc.,
said
it
expected
the
movie
to
reach
200
million
dollars.
The
two
film
franchises
helped
the
overall
box
office
post
higher
year-on-year
sales
for
an
eighth
consecutive
weekend,
according
to
tracking
firm
Exhibitor
Relations.
The
top
12
films
earned
206.5
million
dollars,
the
sort
of
figure
usually
reached
during
a
four-day
holiday.
Rounding
out
this
weekend's
top
five
were
Twentieth
Century
Fox's
fashion
industry
satire
The
Devil
Wears
Prada
with
15.8
million
dollars;
Columbia
Pictures'
Adam
Sandler
comedy
Click
with
12
million
dollars;
and
Disney's
Pixar-produced
cartoon
Cars
with
10.3
million
dollars.