The booty collected by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"continues to be larger than anything the boxoffice has previously witnessed, but it still wasn't large enough to ensure that this weekend's North American boxoffice was bigger than the comparable weekend last year.

Buena Vista Pictures' "Dead Man's Chest" grossed $62.3 million in its second weekend in release, outperforming both of the two new releases by more than $40 million each and securing yet another record, according to Monday's final figures. The film's weekend gross was so strong that its Saturday night take of $24 million was greater than the three-day totals for both Sony Pictures' "Little Man," debuting at $21.6 million, and Universal Pictures' "You, Me and Dupree" with $21.5 million.

But despite the strength of this weekend's top three pictures, the frame still paled in comparison to the comparable weekend last year. While 2005 was primarily a down year at the boxoffice, that weekend marked the debut of Warner Bros. Pictures' "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and New Line Cinema's "Wedding Crashers." Those two films' respective grosses of $56.2 million and $33.9 million -- coupled with strong holds from other films in the top five, including "Fantastic Four," "War of the Worlds" and "Batman Begins" -- saw a top 12 number of $155.7 million, compared with $148.2 million for this weekend.

The boxoffice this weekend fell 4.8% compared with last year's frame, marking the first down boxoffice in nine weeks.

Still, boasting a per-theater average of $15,085, "Dead Man's Chest's" $62.3 million second weekend exceeded the opening of the Johnny Depp starrer "Charlie," which led the weekend a year ago.

But the other holdovers this weekend didn't match the power of last year's holdovers. A stronger hold from Warner Bros.' "Superman Returns" would have made a difference. But the would-be blockbuster has underperformed expectations, dropping 44% -- less than its second weekend fall of 58%, but still not strong enough. "Superman" has now earned $164.3 million, but industry experts expected the Bryan Singer-directed film to be nearer to the $200 million mark by this point.

"Dead Man's Chest," on the other hand, continues to exceed expectations. The Jerry Bruckheimer-produced/Gore Verbinski-directed film has now earned $258.4 million, setting a record as the highest 10-day grosser. The record tops "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith's" 10-day number of an estimated $236.9 million, set last year.

"It's always nice to be attached to a blockbuster. It makes up for all the times you toil away on films and they just don't work," Buena Vista president of distribution Chuck Viane said. "When we hit the $300 million mark next week, it will clearly be the fastest the company has ever reached such a number."

Meanwhile, both "Little Man" and "Dupree" met industry expectations, setting up respectable theatrical runs. In fact, the horse race the industry predicted for the two pictures proved to be true with "Little Man" outpacing "Dupree" by just $400,000.

"Little Man," from Revolution Studios, starring Marlon and Shawn Wayans, and directed by brother Keenen Ivory Wayans, boasted a respectable per-theater average of $8,533. The PG-13 film about a baby-sized criminal outgrossed the opening of the Wayans brothers' most recent comedy, "White Chicks," which bowed to $19.6 million in June 2004, as well as the Wayans' "Scary Movie 2," which bowed in summer 2001 to $20.5 million.

"The Wayans brothers definitely know how to make people laugh," Sony Pictures president of distribution Rory Bruer said. " 'Little Man' is a fun summer comedy that reaches everybody."

Everybody in this case included primarily women under 25, and expanded beyond a purely urban audience.

"Dupree," the PG-13 comedy about an unwanted houseguest starring Owen Wilson, Kate Hudson and Matt Dillon, reminded moviegoers in its advertising that Wilson also starred in last summer's comedic breakout "Wedding Crashers," which bowed to $33.9 million, but "Dupree" didn't reach that level. Directed by brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, "Dupree's" bow was more in line with Universal's 2005 Steve Carrell starrer "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," which took in $21.4 million in its opening weekend last August.

"It's a solid opening in a very crowded marketplace," Universal Pictures president of distribution Nikki Rocco said. "With 'Pirates' essentially having another huge number, were just happy to be where we are."

"Dupree," with a production budget of $54 million, appealed primarily to women under 30.

While "Little Man" and "Dupree" battled neck and neck for total boxoffice receipts for the opening frame, on a per-theater basis, "Little Man" -- which was playing in 2,533 locations vs. "Dupree's" 3,131 theaters -- surpassed "Dupree's" numbers by almost $2,000 per theater.

Buena Vista's other engine that could is Pixar's "Cars," which grossed an additional $7.8 million for a total cume of $220.0 million. The film, with an impressive 29% drop, has now surpassed Sony Pictures' "The Da Vinci Code" and has its sights set on toppling 20th Century Fox's "X-Men: The Last Stand," whose eight-week gross stands at $232.3 million.

Warners' specialty film unit experienced a small victory with its limited release "A Scanner Darkly." From Warner Independent Pictures, the film from writer-director Richard Linklater wedged its way into 10th place for the weekend. Playing on only 216 screens -- it added 199 locations -- the film earned a per-theater average of $5,863 for a total of $1.9 million. The company plans to hold it at its current run for another week before considering expansion.

New in limited release this weekend was Bauer Martinez's "The Groomsmen." From writer-director Edward Burns, the film, which opened in three theaters, grossed $27,140, for a per-screen average of $9,047. With only one New York run, the company is expected to add a few runs in that city.

First Independent Pictures opened two new films this weekend. The R-rated David Mamet-written film "Edmond" bowed on two screens in New York. From director Stuart Gordon and starring William H. Macy, Julia Stiles and Joe Mantegna, the film earned $22,000.

"Mini's First Time," from first-time writer-director Nick Guthe, did not open as solidly, earning a dismal per-screen average of $3,500 on seven screens for a total gross of $24,500.

For the week ending July 13, the national boxoffice was up 47% from the comparable seven-day period last year ($328.1 million vs. $223.3 million), while the year-to-date total was up 8% from last year's pace ($4.98 billion vs. $4.63 billion). Admissions for the year-to-date are up 6% from last year at this time.