MUMBAI: Walt Disney Pictures’ Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End has had the biggest opening in industry history, with an unprecedented booty of $401 million in its first six days of release.

This is a new industry record, which surpasses the previous record of $382 million set by the six day opening of Spider-Man 3 earlier this year.

The film has also set several new benchmarks: 

Pirates globally rolled out on over 29,000 screens worldwide – a record screen count for a Hollywood film which released across day and date across the world.

A record number of digital screens – 1,478 – In the US + Canada Pirates went out on 1,064 screens and internationally there were 414 screens.

The film set a new record for the four-day Memorial Day Weekend (Friday May 25 to Monday May 28), with its gross of $142.1 million (including Monday estimates), the film surpassed the previous high of $122.9 million set by X2: X-Men United in 2003.

The Pirates set sail across a record 4,362 North American (US + Canada) venues during the four day holiday (Fri May 25 to Mon May 28), making it the biggest release ever in North America.

At the international box office, Pirates shattered records from Russia to Japan with its phenomenal six day tally of $245 million (including Monday estimates), surpassing the previous six-day high of $232 million set by Spider-Man 3 a few weeks ago.

The film had record-breaking openings (figures are through Sunday) in their respective markets in the following countries: Korea ($18.4 million), Japan ($15.9 million; US Productions only), Russia ($13.7 million), Spain ($11.6 million), Taiwan ($4.5 million) and Netherlands ($2.8 million).

Pirates still has a few markets yet to open including India, where it releases on 1 June, 2007 with over 300 prints in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and English.

The brand has earned a sizable following in India thanks to the strong performances by the first two parts: Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl grossed Rs 54 million (Rs 5.4 crores) on 96 prints while Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest took in 192 million (Rs 19.2 crores) on 199 prints. The film is released by Buena Vista International through SPE Films India.

In the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, Pyramid Saimira Theatre will be the exclusive exhibitor of the movie in around 70 screens, including the territory of Chennai.

Related story:

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest crosses $100 million mark