Pirates Of The Carribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl proved as big a draw in Australia this weekend as it has around the world. The adventure film sailed into the lead for BVI scoring an impressive screen average of A$13,732 from its whopping 377 screen count.

James Cameron's 3-D IMAX film Ghosts Of The Abyss was the only one with a better average, clocking up four times that figure (A$58,147), although it had the advantage of only being on two screens. The documentary, which follows the Titanic director's return to and exploration of the legendary shipwreck, improved 11% on its launch weekend last week.

Fox's Legally Blonde 2 and Rialto's American Splendor both saw solid launches following previews last week. UIP's Rugrats Go Wild played previews only this weekend.

Meanwhile BVI will be pleased with another summer performer, Finding Nemo. The Pixar animated hit is still doing extremely strong business and has taken over A$21m in less than three weeks.