For the third week in a row, The Avengers dominated the box office. Marvel’s superheroes added another $55 million to their domestic total – putting the film over $450 million in a record-breaking seventeen days. Meanwhile, the three new releases that lined up to challenge The Avengers all struggled in the blockbuster’s wake.

We all know that this hasn’t been the best year for movies at the domestic box office.  Only a handful of weekends have come out ahead of 2010 in terms of profit.  Luckily, this Memorial Day Weekend was one of them.  Traditionally one of the most profitable of Hollywood’s entire year, this year’s holiday more than measured up.  First, The Hangover Part II crushed the All-Time opening for a comedy.  Then estimates put the combined profits of the domestic box office at nearly 50% above last year’s four-day holiday frame and 10% above 2007’s profits (the year which held the all-time record).  Here’s how the top ten looks, including revised estimates for the three-day weekend:

Captain Jack is back!  Come to rescue us all from Davy Jones’ Locker (a metaphor for this year’s dismal domestic box office or for the impenetrable plots of his last two sequels – you decide!).  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides already had $44.2 million in international swag going into its domestic debut on Friday.  On these shores, Pirates 4 grabbed an estimated $35 million from 4,155 locations – 65% of which were 3D equipped.  That is just a bit better than the $34.3 million Fast Five saw three weeks ago in its (non-3D) debut.  But it’s also well under the $44.7 million At World’s End took in on its first Friday back in 2007.  Right now it looks like Pirates 4 will run aground before reaching its predecessor’s $114.7 million weekend gross – though it’s still possible for the Disney film to become the first of 2011 to open above the $100 million mark.  Details and analysis tomorrow.

Last week I got to do something extremely cool…I got to interview Hans Zimmer in his private Los Angeles recording studio!  While I get to speak with actors and directors all the time, getting to talk with a great composer is not the norm.  And getting to speak to one where he records his music…let’s just say I jumped at the chance to make this happen.

Thankfully, Zimmer could not have been nicer and while we spoke for over twenty minutes, our interview could have been all afternoon.  That’s because as the composer of such scores as Sherlock Holmes, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight (with James Newton Howard) Frost/Nixon, Inception and a ton of others….I had a million questions.

And while we talked about how he comes up with his music and all the normal questions, the best part was getting him to give me a tour of the room and show me all the equipment.  If you’re a fan of Hans Zimmer, want to write music for movies, or just a movie fan curious how composers work, you are going to absolutely love this interview.  Take a look after the jump: