'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' set a new record for an opening weekend at the box office, taking in a haul of $132 million according to studio estimates. The film is a sequel to 2003's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl' and returns cast members Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly.
The previous record for strongest opening weekend belonged to 'Spider-Man' which was released in 2002. The super hero saga took in $114.8 million in its first three days of release.
In its first day of release, 'Pirates' grabbed $55 million, surpassing the single opening day record set by 'Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith' which took in $50 million last year.
Last week's top grossing film, 'Superman Returns' fell to second place with $21.85 million. In the 12 days since its release, the new film about the 'man of steel' has taken in $141.7 million.
'The Devil Wears Prada' starring Meryl Streep dropped to third place by taking in $15.6 million.
The Adam Sandler comedy, 'Click' finished in fourth place this weekend, taking in an even $12 million, followed by the animated Disney/Pixar film, 'Cars' with $10.3 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were Jack Black's 'Nacho Libre,' the romantic comedy, 'The Lake House,' 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,' 'Waist Deep' and 'The Break-Up.'
Due to the success of 'Pirates,' the top 12 grossing films were 48 percent ahead of the same weekend last year when 'Fantastic Four' was the top grossing film. Hollywood continues its strong rebound from a moribund 2005.
