Third Pirates film sails into record books

The latest Pirates of the Caribbean film has sailed into the record books despite bad reviews.

The third instalment in the trilogy, At World’s End, has taken $401m (€297m) worldwide in its first six days of release – - the biggest opening in movie history, according to makers Walt Disney.

It surpassed the $382m (€283m) set by Spiderman 3 earlier this year.

In the UK, the movie raked in £13.4 (€19.6m) on its opening weekend – the highest box office of the year.

But the critics have been unimpressed by the latest adventure which reunites Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.

And the worldwide three-day opening fell short of second film Dead Man’s Chest.

Mark Zoradi of Disney said: “We knew that audiences all over the world were excited to see Johnny Depp and the rest of the fantastic Pirates cast in this latest adventure, but this record-setting response at the global box office has been nothing short of incredible.

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End now has the distinction of having the biggest opening in movie history, and we’re extremely proud of that achievement.”

Disney has announced plans for an online Pirates of the Caribbean game which will allow players to create a virtual world set on the high seas.