JOHNNY Depp has propelled Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest to the top of the world box-office charts for 2006 with global earnings of $1,065m, boosting Walt Disney Studios' revenues to a record $3.26bn.

With a gross of $423m domestically, Pirates easily topped the US charts, followed by two other Disney films, The Chronicles of Narnia at number two and Cars at number four.

Pirates also topped the Irish charts, grossing 5,441,355, followed by Casino Royale at 5,031,453. Casino Royale, which is still on release, has just become the biggest Bond movie worldwide on $454m. Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes The Barley, an Irish/UK production, was the only movie to break the Hollywood stranglehold on the Irish box-office, coming in sixth with an impressive 4,134,791.

Meanwhile, the newly formed Dublin Critics Circle has voted Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain best film of 2006 and The Wind That Shakes The Barley best Irish film of 2006. Martin Scorsese was named best director for The Departed, while Leonardo Di Caprio (The Departed) and Penelope Cruz (Volver) were best actor and best actress. Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine) was chosen as best supporting actress, with Jack Nicholson (The Departed) as best supporting actor.

IRELAND'S 2006 TOP TEN

1 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: 5,441,355 2 - Casino Royale: 5,031,455 * 3 - Borat: 4,512,518 * 4 - The Da Vinci Code: 4,454,607 5 - Walk the Line: 4,297,791 6 - The Wind That Shakes The Barley: 4,134,709 7 - Ice Age 2: 3,439,582 8 - The Devil Wears Prada: 2,640,843 9 - The Departed: 2,519,374 10 - Cars: 2,432,320 Compiled from Sunday Tribune industry sources.

* Movies still on release US 2006

TOP TEN 1 - Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest: $423,271,331 2 - The Chronicles of Narnia: $291,709,845 3 - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: $289,994 ,397 4 - Cars: $244,052,711 5 - X-Men: The Last Stand: $234,052,711 6 - King Kong: $218,051,260 7 - The Da Vinci Code: $217,536,138 8 - Superman Returns: $200,069,408 9 - Ice Age 2: $195,329,763 10 - Happy Feet: $160,521,000