Box Office Report: July 7-9

Proving the success of the 2003 first “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie was no fluke, the sequel, “Dead Man’s Chest,” captured box office records for the largest single day opening ($55.8 million) and opening weekend ($135.6 million), utterly destroying its competition in theaters. Last week’s number one film, “Superman Returns” was a far distant second with $21.8 million. In fact, the rest of the top 10 films combined barely made half the money that “Pirates” grabbed over the weekend. The film is already the eighth-highest grossing worldwide this year.

Oh, and you can mark your calendars now as “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” has already staked its claim to May 25, 2007. It looks like other films hoping to compete with Captain Jack do so at their own peril.

1. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
(Weekend domestic gross - $135.6 million)
(Worldwide gross - $182.3 million)
(Budget - $225 million)
2. “Superman Returns”
(Weekend domestic gross - $21.8 million)
(Worldwide gross - $177.4 million)
(Budget - $260 million)
3. “The Devil Wears Prada”
(Weekend domestic gross - $15.0 million)
(Worldwide gross - $63.1 million)
(Budget - $35 million)
4. “Click”
(Weekend domestic gross - $11.9 million)
(Worldwide gross - $115.2 million)
(Budget - $82.5 million)
5. “Cars”
(Weekend domestic gross - $10.7 million)
(Worldwide gross - $230.3 million)
(Budget - $120 million)
6. “Nacho Libre”
(Weekend domestic gross - $3.34 million)
(Worldwide gross - $73.8 million)
(Budget - $35 million)
7. “The Lake House”
(Weekend domestic gross - $2.9 million)
(Worldwide gross - $51.9 million)
(Budget - N/A)
8. “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift”
(Weekend domestic gross - $2.55 million)
(Worldwide gross - $89.2 million)
(Budget - N/A)
9. “Waist Deep”
(Weekend domestic gross - $1.9 million)
(Worldwide gross - $19.2 million)
(Budget - N/A)
10. “The Break-Up”
(Weekend domestic gross - $1.6 million)
(Worldwide gross - $135.4 million)
(Budget - $52 million)

2006 Year-To-Date
1. “The Da Vinci Code”
(Worldwide gross - $728.3 million)
(Budget - $125 million)
2. “Ice Age: The Meltdown”
(Worldwide gross - $639.4 million)
(Budget - $80 million)
3. “X-Men: The Last Stand”
(Worldwide gross - $427.0 million)
(Budget - $210 million)
4. “Mission: Impossible III”
(Worldwide gross - $352.4 million)
(Budget - $150 million)
5. “Cars”
(Worldwide gross - $230.3 million)
(Budget - $120 million)
6. “Over the Hedge”
(Worldwide gross - $187.2 million)
(Budget - N/A)
7. “Inside Man”
(Worldwide gross - $182.5 million)
(Budget - $45 million)
8. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”
(Worldwide gross - $182.3 million)
(Budget - $225 million)
9. “Superman Returns”
(Worldwide gross - $177.4 million)
(Budget - $260 million)
10. “Scary Movie 4”
(Worldwide gross - $165.2 million)
(Budget - $45 million)