Los
Angeles
(Reuters):
Walt
Disney
Co's
Pirates
of
the
Caribbean:
Dead
Man's
Chest
logged
a
third
weekend
as
the
most
popular
movie
in
North
America
while
the
latest
films
from
directors
M.
Night
Shyamalan
and
Ivan
Reitman
both
bombed,
according
to
studio
estimates
issued.
The
monster
swashbuckler
Pirates
earned
35
million
dollars,
comfortably
ahead
of
Sony
Corp's
animated
creepfest
Monster
House,
which
exceeded
expectations
with
a
23
million
dollars
debut.
Shyamalan's
mystical
fantasy
Lady
in
the
Water
followed
at
Number
three
with
18.2
million
dollars,
while
Reitman's
romantic
comedy
My
Super
Ex-Girlfriend
was
Number
seven
7
with
8.7
million
dollars.
A
fourth
new
release,
director
Kevin
Smith's
Clerks
II
was
Number
six
with
9.6
million
dollars,
broadly
in
line
with
expectations
according
to
estimate
yesterday.
The
total
for
Pirates
sped
to
321.7
million
dollars.
It
set
a
record
for
a
film
to
reach
300
million
dollars
16
days.
The
old
mark
of
17
days
was
set
last
year
by
Star
Wars:
Episode
III
--
Revenge
of
the
Sith.
The
last
movie
to
enjoy
a
three-weekend
stretch
at
Number
one
was
the
November
2005
release
Harry
Potter
and
the
Goblet
of
Fire.
The
performances
of
Pirates
and
Lady
in
the
Water
represent
a
double
victory
for
Disney,
which
chose
not
to
release
Lady
in
the
Water
after
distributing
Shyamalan's
previous
three
big
movies.
Disney
last
week
ousted
Shyamalan's
nemesis,
studio
chief
Nina
Jacobson,
in
a
major
revamp
that
will
see
650
people
lose
their
jobs
as
the
studio
focuses
more
on
family
pictures.
The
dubious
honor
of
distributing
Lady
in
the
Water
instead
went
to
Time
Warner
Inc's
Warner
Bros
Pictures,
which
has
endured
a
challenging
summer,
beginning
with
Poseidon
(box
office
returns
of
60
million
dollars),
and
continuing
with
the
costly
Superman
Returns
(178
million
dollars
to
date),
and
The
Lake
House
(51
million
dollars).
Shyamalan's
last
movie,
The
Village,
opened
to
50
million
dollars
in
2004
and
stalled
at
114
million
dollars-half
of
what
2002's
Signs
finished
with.
Shyamalan's
1999
breakthrough,
The
Sixth
Sense,
earned
293.5
million
dollars.
His
new
film
revolves
around
a
water
nymph
(Bryce
Dallas
Howard)
who
inhabits
a
swimming
pool
in
an
apartment
complex.
It
received
a
critical
pasting
that
got
personal
at
times.
The
New
York
Post
described
Shyamalan
as
''a
crackpot
with
a
messianic
delusions.''
Even
his
hometown
newspaper,
the
Philadelphia
Inquirer,
said
the
movie
was
extremely
silly.
Warner
Bros.
said
it
had
hoped
for
an
opening
in
the
mid-20
million
dollars
range.
It
cost
in
the
mid-50
million
dollars
range
to
make.
The
studio's
distribution
president,
Dan
Fellman,
said
the
movie
did
well
on
the
coasts
but
''definitely
had
some
difficulties''
elsewhere.
My
Super
Ex-Girlfriend,
which
received
only
marginally
better
reviews
than
Lady
in
the
Water,
marked
Reitman's
first
directing
effort
since
the
2001
flop
Evolution.
Starring
Uma
Thurman
as
a
needy
superheroine,
it
was
distributed
by
News
Corp.'s
20th
Century
Fox,
which
had
hoped
for
an
opening
in
the
mid-teens.
Monster
House,
which
cost
75
million
dollars
to
make,
revolves
around
three
youngsters
and
a
voracious
haunted
house.
Executive
produced
by
Steven
Spielberg
and
Robert
Zemeckis,
the
motion-capture
film
was
bolstered
by
strong
reviews.
Sony
said
it
had
hoped
to
reach
20
million
dollars.
Clerks
II,
a
follow-up
to
Smith's
low-budget
1994
breakthrough,
was
distributed
by
closely
held
firms
Weinstein
Co.
In
the
UK,
Pirates
of
the
Caribbean
added
almost
4
million
pounds
to
its
treasure
haul
at
UK
cinemas
keeping
firmly
at
number
one
in
the
British
box
office
charts,
Screen
International
said.
The
Johnny
Depp
swashbuckler,
which
also
stars
British
actress
Keira
Knightley,
has
now
taken
more
than
31
million
pounds
since
its
launch
three
weeks
ago.
That
was
enough
to
keep
the
Disney
sequel
ahead
of
romantic
comedy
The
Break-Up
starring
Vince
Vaughan
and
Jennifer
Aniston,
which
follows
the
exploits
of
a
couple
who
refuse
to
move
out
of
their
joint
home
when
they
split
up.
Flexing
his
muscles
in
third
spot
was
Superman
Returns,
featuring
Brandon
Routh
as
the
man
of
steel,
down
a
place
from
last
week.
Stormbreaker,
an
action
adventure
about
a
14-year-old
boy
recruited
to
join
the
British
secret
service,
was
a
new
entry
in
fourth
place,
with
Garfield
2,
featuring
a
plot
about
the
animated
feline's
antics
in
England,
debuting
in
fifth
place.
Animated
animal
comedy
Over
the
Hedge
dropped
three
to
sixth
with
''The
Wind
that
Shakes
the
Barley,''
set
in
revolutionary
Ireland,
falling
to
seventh.
Little
Fish,
a
thriller
starring
Cate
Blanchett,
was
a
new
entry
in
eighth,
with
Just
my
Luck,
starring
Lindsay
Lohan
and
Chris
Pine
dropping
to
ninth.
Bollywood
movie
Golmaal
was
in
tenth.