Pirates storm box office

Johnny Depp (L) and Orlando Bloom in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'.

Johnny Depp and his pirate friends are keeping all the box-office treasure for themselves.

Depp's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest remained the top movie for the third straight weekend at the US box office, taking US$35 million ($56.36 million) and lifting its total to US$322 million after just 17 days.

The animated Monster House debuted at No 2.

Opening in third was M. Night Shyamalan's adult fairy tale Lady in the Water, starring Paul Giamatti as an apartment manager who discovers a water nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) living beneath his building's swimming pool.