"Pirates" rules box office for second weekend

Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" reaped the most bounty at the North American box office again this weekend, a week after smashing industry records to set the highest grossing debut ever.

"Pirates" brought in an estimate of 62.2 million dollars over the weekend, according to estimates released Sunday by Los Angeles- based box office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.

The booty brings the film's 10-day box office take to about 258. 2 million dollars.

The film, inspired by an attraction in the Disneyland amusement park and starring Johnny Depp, raked in 135.6 million dollars last week, smashing the previous debut record of 114.8 million set by " Spider-Man" in 2002.

In a distant second this weekend was "Little Man," a comedy about a tiny thief posing as a child. The film brought in about 21. 7 million dollars, while "You, Me and Dupree," starring Owen Wilson as the unwelcome house guest of a newlywed couple, brought in some 21.3 million.

"Superman Returns" came fourth with about 11.6 million dollars for the super hero film, bringing its estimated gross over three weeks to some 163.6 million dollars. In fifth place was "The Devil Wears Prada," a movie about a cruel fashion magazine editor which brought in about 10.5 million dollars over the weekend.

The top 12 grossing films this weekend in North America brought in estimated 148.2 million dollars, down 4.8 percent from the same period last year, and representing a 29.4 percent down from that of last week. It was the first "down" weekend at the box office in eight weeks.

However, industry analysts said the box office is showing significant signs of recovery compared with last year. Revenue is up 6.7 percent over last year and attendance is up 3.5 percent.

Source: Xinhua