"Spider-Man 3" remained the No. 1 movie for a second weekend, even though it took a huge 60 percent drop from its record debut a week earlier, the film's distributor said on Sunday.

In its second weekend of release, "Spider-Man 3" sold an estimated 145.5 million U.S. dollars worth of tickets, split between 60 million dollars for North America and 85.5 million internationally, said Columbia Pictures.

Second-weekend drops for successful studio films typically are well below 50 percent. But "Spider-Man 3" shattered records with 151.1 million dollars in its first weekend, making a big decline virtually inevitable.

"When you're in that stratosphere, we had to assume we would be in the range of a 60 percent drop," said Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony.

Debuting in second place with 10 million dollars was Fox Atomic's zombie thriller "28 Weeks Later," a follow up to "28 Days Later."

Universal's "Georgia Rule," starring Lindsay Lohan, Jane Fonda and Felicity Huffman, opened at No. 3 with 5.9 million dollars.

The movie earned Lohan a ton of bad publicity last year when the film's producer, James G. Robinson, wrote the hard-partying actress a letter condemning her "irresponsible and unprofessional" conduct during production.

The worldwide lead is likely to change next weekend when "Shrek the Third" opens and then again the following weekend when "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" sets sail.

Source:Xinhua/Agencies