BRIEFLY.

"Pirates" 3 takes less opening loot

Box-office treasure is a little harder to come by on the new voyage of "Pirates of the Caribbean."

The third installment in the Walt Disney Co. franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," hauled in an estimated $112.5 million from Friday through Sunday, well below last summer's $135.6 million opening weekend for its predecessor, "Dead Man's Chest."

"At World's End" had the fifth-biggest three-day opening ever, with this month's "Spider-Man 3" ($151.1 million) and "Shrek the Third" ($121.6 million) both outperforming it.

The new "Pirates" poached the box-office crown from DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third," whose No. 1 debut a week earlier was a record opening for an animated film. "Shrek the Third" slipped to second place with $51 million, pushing its domestic total just beyond $200 million.

With $13.7 million, Sony's "Spider-Man 3" came in third, raising its domestic take to $303.3 million.

-- Associated Press

Gang tie likely as 2 men shot

NORTH HOLLYWOOD -- Two people were wounded in what appeared to be a gang-related shooting early Sunday morning, police said.

The shooting occurred about 1 a.m. along the 6800 block of Agnes Avenue after a vehicle pulled up to a group of people talking on the street corner, a police representative said. Words were exchanged and shots were fired.

Two men were shot, one as he was getting out of the car and one who was on the corner. Both men were sent to local hospitals -- one with several shots in the torso; information was not disclosed on where the other was wounded.

-- Daily News

Fire damages financial firm

CHATSWORTH -- An early-morning fire Sunday caused $250,000 damage to a financial business at a two-story strip mall in the 21000 block of W. Devonshire Street, authorities said.

The blaze started about 2:30 a.m. on the top floor of the Devonshire Center Complex in an office occupied by America's Lending Group, a fire department spokeswoman said.

-- Daily News