Pirates stays on top for a third weekend in the US

It was yet another good weekend for those gold-plundering Pirates Of The Caribbean. Dead Man’s Chest saw off all possible boarders to take in $35 million this weekend in America, bringing its current US total to a staggering $322 million.

Opening well in second place was the CG ‘toon Monster House from Sony and executive producer Robert Zemeckis. The House rode a wave of positive reviews and plenty of solid buzz to grab $23 million. Not bad for a building that eats people… Less successful was M Night Shyamalan’s plunge into whimsical fantasy. With mixed reviews and plenty of negativity surrounding its creation, it landed in third place with $18.2 million.

Fourth and fifth places were taken by the two returning comedies, You, Me And Dupree and Little Man. Dupree’s haul is now up to $45 million, while Little Man has $40 million sitting in its nappy.

Sixth place went to Kevin Smith’s sequel Clerks 2. $9.6 million may not seem like a lot, but with a budget of $5 million to recoup, it’ll be in profit shortly. Sadly, it’s only his second best opener to date, after Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back.

Less pleased will be Ivan Reitman, who saw My Super Ex-Girlfriend plummet into seventh with $8.7 million. Uma Thurman might have super powers, but she couldn’t stop this dodgy comedy tanking. The super-woman is just above the Superman in the charts, with Returns at eighth and taking $7.5 million this weekend. Bryan Singer’s take on the caped wonder now has $178 million in the US, which is still disappointing given its huge budget. At this weekend’s Comic-Con, Singer insisted he was considering a sequel, but the studio may want to wait and see the final figures before switching on that greenlight.

At nine, The Devil Wears Prada clung on, making $7.4 million, but boasting an impressive $97.5 million in total. And bringing up the rear – but close to becoming the second-highest grossing movie of the year so far, Pixar’s Cars prepared to drive out of the charts.