It's National Talk Like a Pirate Day! Drinks all around!

Aaargh, matey! Celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day by filling a tankard and drinking a toast to the cast and crew of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 3, which is due to resume filming on Grand Bahama tomorrow, September 20th. We wish them a safe and merry shoot in the Caribbean . . . . The Black Pearl put on a bit of a show by test-firing her guns on Friday; you can see pictures and video footage in emma’s “POTC 2/3 Update” thread on the News & Views forum. Thanks, emma!

Finally, those of you with a literary bent can celebrate National Talk Like a Pirate Day by entering the Zone’s Captain Jack Sparrow drabble challenge! A drabble is a piece of fiction containing exactly 100 words. Rules for the challenge are posted on the Zone’s FanFic Stories-in-Progress forum. Drabbles must be posted by 10 p.m. Eastern time tonight! Winner’s swag? A $15 Amazon gift certificate.

A stunning debut weekend at the box office for Tim Burton's THE CORPSE BRIDE!

Despite the fact that the film opened in only five theaters in North America, Tim Burton’s CORPSE BRIDE pulled in $411,000 on its opening weekend–that’s a staggering average of $82,200 per screen! For comparison, the film in first place at the box office last weekend, Reese Witherspoon’s romance JUST LIKE HEAVEN, earned $4,703 per screen, and the second-place film, THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, earned a slightly better $5,129 per screen. CORPSE BRIDE’S closest competition in the limited-release market, Miramax’s PROOF, opened in 8 theaters and earned $25,125 per screen; that’s a very good number, but less than a third of the business that CORPSE BRIDE delivered. Warner Bros. must be delighted with CORPSE BRIDE’s prospects; the film opens wide on Friday, and Zoners would be wise to get their tickets early. Thanks to MommaDeppLover for reporting the box office numbers!