Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is set for a great start, as the movie already broke one record even before it premiered.

The third installment of Disney's Pirates franchise will officially open Friday in 4,362 US cinemas, some 110 more than the 4,252 screens that showcased the previous record-holder, Spider-Man 3.

Director Gore Verbinksi adds legendary rockstar Keith Richards and Asian star Chow Yun-Fat to the returning all-star lineup of Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Price and Bill Nighy.

The movie received some harsh criticism over the last few days for its flat jokes, its very confusing subplots and its impressive one hour too long duration. Even Captain Jack's trademark comments have lost their sting. Verbinski and his team of writers are almost naive in what they expect an audience to hold on to. Based on the success of the first two Pirates movies, which grossed 1.7 billion dollars worldwide, Walt Disney will have no trouble recouping its investment in At World's End.

Given the huge opening, Disney hopes that the Jolly Roger will again fly over the title of biggest movie opening ever, which was held last year's Pirates sequel until Spider-Man 3 broke the record on its opening weekend in early May with 148 million dollars in box- office sales.