Los Angeles: Already a record-shattering blockbuster, Johnny Depp's sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned $62.2 million in its second weekend, raising its 10-day total to $258.2 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The movie has quickly become the year's top-grossing film, rocketing past X-Men: The Last Stand which has taken in $232 million in eight weeks. The Pirates sequel has grossed an additional $125 million overseas.
"It's really fun when you're riding a comet like this," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which based the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on its theme park attraction. "This thing is just unbelievable. It creates its own wake."
Sony's Little Man, the Wayans brothers' slapstick farce about a pint-size thief masquerading as a baby, opened as the No 2 movie with $21.7 million. The tale stars Shawn and Marlon Wayans, who co-wrote it with brother Keenen Ivory Wayans, the director.
Universal's comedy You, Me and Dupree starring Owen Wilson as a houseguest causing chaos for a buddy and his new bride (Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson), debuted at No 3 with $21.3 million.
Hollywood's business dipped for the first time in two months. After eight straight weekends of rising revenues, overall receipts totaled $156 million, down 5 per cent from the same weekend last year, when Depp also was at the top of the box office, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Still, the second weekend gross for Dead Man's Chest topped the debut of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which opened with $56.2 million. Dead Man's Chest had the third-best second weekend ever, behind Shrek 2 ($72.2 million) and Spider-Man ($71.4 million).
By next weekend, Dead Man's Chest should pass the $305 million domestic total rung up by its predecessor, 2003's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Disney's Viane said.
Dead Man's Chest debuted with $135.6 million over the opening weekend, beating the previous record of $114.8 million set by Spider-Man in 2002.
Ending with a cliffhanger, Dead Man's Chest will be closely followed by a third Pirates movie due out next May, with Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and other co-stars on a voyage to rescue Depp's rakish pirate Capt. Jack Sparrow.
"Huge expectations. Pirates 2 is maybe the toughest act in box-office history to follow," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. " Pirates 3 is the definition of a predestined blockbuster."
After a strong start in narrow release the previous weekend, Warner Independent's sci-fi drug-addiction tale A Scanner Darkly expanded to more theaters and broke into the top 10 with $1.2 million. The movie, featuring Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr., was shot in live action then painted over with digital animation.
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