Pirates rule the world

Even though At World's End could not break Spider-man 3's opening weekend record in North America, in 16 other countries it clearly stole the box office.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sliced through opening week records around the world, pulling in $404 million dollars over six days, Walt Disney Studios said on Tuesday.

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The third in the Pirates series, with Johnny Depp as swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow, busted opening week records in 16 countries from Argentina to Iceland, to Russia, Malaysia and Taiwan, Disney said.

It outpaced the previous world opening record of $382 million racked up by Spider-Man 3 just four weeks ago -- and the newest Pirates has yet to open in the world's two most populous countries, China and India.

But it failed to break Spider-Man 3's hold on the US and Canada weekend opening record of $151.1 million, for a three-day weekend. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sold $139.8 million in tickets over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial opening of the summer movie season.

Altogether the top 12 films -- led by three blockbuster sequels, Pirates,Shrek The Third and Spider-Man 3 -- pulled in $246.4 million in the North American theaters over the weekend, $14.5 million higher than last year's Memorial Day weekend total, according to box office specialist Exhibitor Relations.

Shrek earned $67 million, while Spider-Man 3 pulled in $18.1 million, taking its US and Canada total since opening to $307.8 million.