Hong Kong comedy Dragon Loaded 2003 has had one of the strongest openings of the year for a locally-produced film, grossing $1.09m in seven days from 38 screens.

The film beat the openings of both Pirates Of The Caribbean, which came in second with $714,583 from 35 screens, and Korean horror picture A Tale Of Two Sisters, which came in fourth with $157,454 from 17 screens.

Directed by Vincent Kok, who last directed Golden Harvest's Chinese New Year hit My Lucky Star, the film is about a spoilt rich-kid who gets a short, sharp shock when he's thrown into police school. It stars Canto-pop singer and rising movie star Ronald Cheng who stole the show in My Lucky Star.