LOS ANGELES (Reuters):

Spider-Man kept up his box office heroics for a second weekend, as the worldwide total for the third film in the superhero trilogy hit $622 million, the film's distributor said yesterday (Sunday).

In its second weekend of release, Spider-Man 3 sold an estimated $145.5million worth of tickets, split between $60 million for North America and $85.5 million internationally, said Columbia Pictures.

The worldwide lead is likely to change next weekend when Shrek the Third opens and then again the following weekend when Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sets sail.

Spider-Man 3 enjoyed a wide margin in North America over the two new releases that rounded out the top three: the zombie thriller 28 Weeks Later with a disappointing $10 million, and the latest Lindsay Lohan flop Georgia Rule with $5.9 million.

After 10 days, the North American total for Spider-Man 3 stands at $242.1 million. By contrast, 2004's Spider-Man 2 had earned $256 million after two weekends, and 2002's Spider-Man $223 million. (Spider-Man 2 got a two-day head start, opening on a Wednesday.)

CAST

As with its predecessors, Spider-Man 3 stars Tobey Maguire as both the titular crimefighter and Kirsten Dunst as his disenchanted girlfriend, Mary Jane. Sam Raimi directs. A fourth film is in the early stage of development.

The $10 million bow for 28 Weeks Later matched the opening of its 2003 predecessor 28 Days Later, which opened in almost 1,000 fewer theatres. Industry observers had expected the new film to open in the midteen-millions. It was released by Fox Atomic, the nascent genre arm of Fox Searchlight, the art-house unit of News Corp. A studio official did not return a call seeking comment.

Georgia Rule earned Lohan a ton of bad publicity last year when the film's producer, James G. Robinson, wrote the hard-partying actress a letter condemning her "irresponsible and unprofessional" conduct during production. It quickly found its way onto the Internet.

Lohan has failed to capitalise on her 2004 breakthrough Mean Girls, starring in such poorly received films as Herbie: Fully Loaded and Just My Luck.

In her new film, she plays a troubled teen who is sent to live with her tough grandmother (Jane Fonda) in a small town. Felicity Huffman plays Lohan's alcoholic mother.

US top ten

1 Spider-Man 3 $ 60.0 million

2 28 Weeks Later $ 10.0 million

3 Georgia Rule $ 5.9 million

4 Disturbia $ 4.8 million

5 Delta Farce $ 3.5 million

6 Fracture $ 2.9 million

7 The Invisible $ 2.2 million

8 Hot Fuzz $ 1.7 million

9 Next $ 1.6 million

10 Meet the Robinsons $ 1.6 million