PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN - TREASURE CHEST FULLER THAN EXPECTED

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End took away more booty over the four-day Memorial Day holiday than the studio had estimated -- at least overseas. Final figures put the total worldwide gross for the movie at $404 million, up from the original $401 forecast by Disney. In an interview with Daily Variety, Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture marketing and distribution, said: "The global box office returns have continued to exceed our expectations and estimates." Domestically, however, the film took in slightly less than predicted -- $139.8 million, instead of the $142 million that had originally been estimated. Nevertheless, the film set a domestic record for the holiday weekend, beating last year's X-Men: The Last Stand, which took in $122.8 million.

30/05/2007