Johnny Depp and his pirate friends pulled in a lot of plunder, but fell short of a record opening day.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End raked in $43 million in the United States on Friday, falling behind the record $59.3 million opening day for Spider-Man 3 just three weeks earlier, according to studio estimates.

Adding the $14 million made at advance screenings brings Pirates' total take so far to $57 million, another impressive total in what's turning out to be a record-breaking summer at the box office.

At World's End, whose Caribbean portions were shot at the same time as the last Pirates installment, picks up where the second movie left off, with Depp's boozy Captain Jack Sparrow consigned to Davy Jones' locker and old allies and enemies (Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush) embarking on a voyage to save him.

Source: China Daily/agencies