Sheer momentum should ensure another strong international box office haul for Pirates Of The Caribbean this upcoming weekend as it closes in on $300m.

The swashbuckling blockbuster has no major bows but will look to more impressive holdovers to boost its $275m international running total for Buena Vista International (BVI).

BVI opens Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon A Time In Mexico in the UK on Sept 26 and Germany, Austria and Argentina on Sept 25.Robert Rodriguez's Desperado was only released on nine screens in the UK when it opened in February 1996, but boasted a stunning screen average of nearly $11,000.

Since then both Antonio Banderas and director Robert Rodriguez have grown in stature and the opening will no doubt benefit from the presence of Johnny Depp, whose role in Pirates (which has earned over $40m to date) may provide a extra boost due to his current popularity.

The distributor will open Veronica Guerin, the biopic of the murdered Irish crime reporter, in Spain on Sept 26 and Belgium on Sept 24.

Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International (CTFDI) will open S.W.A.T. in Korea on Sept 26 on 148 prints and in Japan on Sept 27, where the print count was unavailable. The action film has grossed $3.6m to date and is expected to do well in its first two major markets.

Identity opens in France on Sept 24 on 200 prints and follows two days later in Brazil on 100. It has grossed $18.8m to date.

The latest updated total for Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machine is $270m, while Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle is on $152m and Daddy Day Care has taken $45.5m.

Fox International will open Legally Blonde 2 in France on Sept 24 on 120 prints and in Portugal on Sept 26 on 31.The comedy sequel has grossed $24.3m at the international box office and the scale of the release reflects caution following the original's $631,176 first-week gross there in Dec 2001.

Fox International will release the action-horror film Underworld in Taiwan as part of a one-off distribution deal. The film opened number one in the US last weekend and goes out on Sept 27 on 52 prints.

Down With Love opens in Brazil on Sept 26 on 80 prints and several smaller markets. The romantic comedy's international running total is $6.9m.

The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen has no major openings this weekend, but the distributor will be looking to boost its $31.1m cumulative score with smaller bows in Denmark, Malaysia and the Czech Republic.

Le Divorce opens in Spain on Sept 26 on 105 prints. The romantic comedy is still in the early stages of its international release and has amassed $227,000 to date.

Universal's comedy sequel American Pie: The Wedding opens through UIP in Belgium on Sept 24 on 50 screens and has grossed $71.9m at the international box office, with plenty of markets to go.

The Chinese action epic Hero opens in France on Sept 24 on 300 prints, while Ned Kelly gets its first bows outside Australia and New Zealand when it opens in the UK on Sept 26 on 200. To date the film has grossed $5.3m.

Paramount's The Italian Job opens through UIP in Spain on Sept 26. DreamWorks will release Seabiscuit through UIP in Germany, its first major international opening, and Austria on 298 prints on Sept 25 and 44 on Sept 26 respectively. The acclaimed drama also goes out in Taiwan through Buena Vista International (BVI) on Sept 27.

Warner Bros will launch Ridley Scott's Matchstick Men at 45 screens in The Netherlands and takes the film wide across the UK and Ireland after a strong 10 screen platform last weekend.