Spider-Man kept up his box office heroics for a second weekend, as the worldwide total for the third film in the superhero trilogy hit US$622 million, the film's distributor said on Sunday.

In its second weekend of release, Spider-Man 3 sold an estimated US$145.5 million worth of tickets, split between $60 million for North America and US$85.5 million internationally, said Columbia Pictures.

The worldwide lead is likely to change next weekend when Shrek the Third opens and then again the following weekend when Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sets sail.

Spider-Man 3 enjoyed a wide margin in North America over the two new releases that rounded out the top three: the zombie thriller 28 Weeks Later with a disappointing US$10 million, and the latest Lindsay Lohan flop Georgia Rule with US$5.9 million.

After 10 days, the North American total for Spider-Man 3 stands at US$242.1 million. By contrast, 2004's Spider-Man 2 had earned US$256 million after two weekends, and 2002's Spider-Man US$223 million. (Spider-Man 2 got a two-day head start, opening on a Wednesday.)

The latest film suffered a steep 60 percent drop from its first weekend, compared with 49 percent for Spider-Man 2 and 38 percent for Spider-Man. Columbia said it was comfortable with the slide given the film's record-breaking US$151 million first weekend. The previous holder of that record, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, fell 54 percent last year.

The Sony Corp owned studio said Spider-Man 3 cost US$258 million to produce, with sources estimating that prints and advertising adding about US$125 million to the bill. The box office pot is split roughly between the studio and movie theater owners, according to a complex formula.

As with its predecessors, Spider-Man 3 stars Tobey Maguire as both the titular crimefighter and Kirsten Dunst as his disenchanted girlfriend, Mary Jane. Sam Raimi directs. A fourth film is in the early stage of development.

The $10 million bow for 28 Weeks Later matched the opening of its 2003 predecessor 28 Days Later, which opened in almost 1,000 fewer theaters. Industry observers had expected the new film to open in the midteen-millions. It was released by Fox Atomic, the nascent genre arm of Fox Searchlight, the art-house unit of News Corp.. A studio official did not return a call seeking comment.

Georgia Rule earned Lohan a ton of bad publicity last year when the film's producer, James G. Robinson, wrote the hard-partying actress a letter condemning her "irresponsible and unprofessional" conduct during production. It quickly found its way onto the Internet.

Lohan has failed to capitalize on her 2004 breakthrough Mean Girls, starring in such poorly received films as Herbie: Fully Loaded and Just My Luck.

In her new film, she plays a troubled teen who is sent to live with her tough grandmother (Jane Fonda) in small town. Felicity Huffman plays Lohan's alcoholic mother.

Georgia Rule was released on behalf of Robinson's Morgan Creek Prods. by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. Universal said the audience was primarily older women who were there to see Fonda. A spokesman for Morgan Creek did not return a call.

Also new was the wartime romp Delta Farce, starring comedian Larry the Cable Guy, which crawled into the No. 5 spot with just US$3.5 million. It was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Paramount Pictures on behalf of producer DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., while the Pirates of the Caribbean films are Walt Disney Co. releases.

(Agencies via CRI.cn May 14, 2007)