THAR SHE GROWS! `PIRATES' MAKING BOX-OFFICE HISTORY.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

BURBANK - On a weekend when box office disappointment ``Snakes on a Plane'' dominated the headlines, the year's top-grossing movie, ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,'' quietly continued its voyage toward history.

``Pirates,'' Walt Disney Pictures' staggeringly successful sequel to 2003's ``Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,'' took in $5.2 million in ticket sales and on Sunday became only the seventh movie ever released to reach the $400 million mark in domestic grosses.

``It is a fantastic ride so far,'' said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Distribution. ``It's a rarified spot and a testament to what the filmmakers did.''

``Pirates'' is now the seventh-highest-grossing movie in history. It should have enough steam to cruise past sixth-place ``Spider-Man,'' which ended its run with $403.7 million, but is likely to be docked before it could reach fifth-place ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace,'' which grossed $431 million.

``It's a spectacular milestone, a real blockbuster,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo. ``It shows that there is still life left in the box office, that this can be done.''

The all-time domestic champ is ``Titanic,'' which took in a stupendous $600.8 million during its 1997-98 sail through box office waters. Second-place ``Star Wars'' ($460.0 million) had some help with a successful 1997 re-release as did fourth-place ``E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' ($435.1 million). Third-place ``Shrek 2'' earned its $441.2 million in a single run.

``Pirates'' is not just a mega-hit on the domestic front. The film, starring Johnny Depp in his Oscar-nominated role of Capt. Jack Sparrow, has passed the $500 million mark in foreign grosses, making for an astounding worldwide gross of $922.7 million.

``Pirates'' was the No. 1 movie overseas for the seventh-straight weekend, playing in 51 markets and grossing $25.5 million. With openings still to come in such countries as Italy and Greece, ``Pirates'' has a realistic chance of passing the $1 billion mark in combined domestic and foreign grosses. Only two other films have reached that number: ``Titanic'' ($1.8 billion) and ``The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King'' ($1.1 billion).

``It makes sense it would do well internationally; it's a big adventure with lots of special effects, basically a thrill ride that can easily translate,'' Gray said. ``The first `Pirates' also had huge foreign box office.''

In contrast, ``Superman Returns'' has not done nearly so well in foreign markets with its latest weekend tally amounting to just $7.9 million for an overseas total of $166 million. Still, that is more than the foreign take so far for other summer releases including ``Over the Hedge'' ($150 million), ``Cars'' ($145 million), ``The Break-Up'' ($61 million)and ``Click'' ($26 million).

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

[phone]

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) no caption (``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'')

Box:

The $400 million club