From the “how wrong can you be?” department:

Jerry Bruckheimer, the producer of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” heard all the pre-release buzz about the movie and didn’t put much faith in it.

After all, none of the other would-be summer blockbusters had blown the doors off of the theaters. He figured “Pirates” would do about $75 million its opening weekend — equalling the take of “The DaVinci Code.”

I used exactly the same logic when I made my prediction on the “Pirates” box office last week.

At least I’ve got some distinguished company who missed the boat along with me.

In case you’ve been under the Caribbean since Sunday, “Pirates” set a new opening weekend box office record, taking in $135.6 million, shattering the old mark set by “Spider-Man” by $20 million.

Wow!

I did far better on my other picks.

“Superman Returns” finished at $21 million. I’d figured somewhere around $25 million;

“The Devil Wears Prada” hung in for third place, taking in $15 million. Again, I was within a couple million on my guess.

And “Click” and “Cars” finished third and fourth and each took in about $10 million — which was my guess.

BOX OFFICE SLUMP OFFICIALLY OVER

The boffo “Pirates” opening has officially brought Hollywood’s box office slump to an end.

The week before last, the yearly box office figures were up 5 percent from last year and attendance was up 1.8 percent. That was less than the industry had hoped following a lackluster 2005.

But the “Pirates” explosion pushed revenue to 6.75 percent ahead of 2005 and attendance to 3 percent ahead.

And that trend is expected to continue for the next couple weeks as “Pirates” is now seen as a $300 million plus movie.

That had to thrill Disney, which has a shot at having the top two movies of the summer. “Cars” keeps steadily moving forward after a slower-than-expected opening. It’s now made $205 million and, at about $10 million a week, should pass “The DaVinci Code” next week and then overtake “X-Men: The Last Stand” before school starts.

THIS WEEK’S PICKS

The two new pictures to hit theaters this week are not going to come close to challenging “Pirates.”

I’m guessing the brain-free Wayans brothers comedy “Little Man” will draw enough teens and early 20somethings who go for their cheap laughs to make about $20 million.

“You, Me and Dupree,” the Owen Wilson “guest who would not leave” picture is more problematic. I’m guessing it will make somewhere around $15 million.

But “Pirates” will likely be somewhere in the $55 to $60 million range.

And I expect “Superman Returns” and “Cars” to continue to perform well. Let’s say $15 to $18 for the Man of Steel and another $8 to $10 for the Pixar animated flick.

AN EARLY PREDICTION

The last big hit of the summer will be “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” the NASCAR comedy starring Will Farrell, who, when he’s in a decent picture really brings in a legion of young fans.