'Pirates' captures Memorial Day record with $142.1 million debut

[crazy4wdw]

'Pirates' Grabs $58M Wednesday, Thursday

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) - "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" pulled in $58 million in gross sales during the first two days of pre-weekend release, Walt Disney Co. said Friday.

In the U.S., the movie collected $17 million on Thursday night, while overseas it grossed $12.1 million in 13 territories on Wednesday and $29 million in 39 territories on Thursday. The movie expands to 102 international markets on Friday including Brazil, Japan, Mexico and Spain.

Starring Johnny Depp as the swashbuckling Captain Jack Sparrow along with Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, "At World's End" is the third movie in the film franchise, following last year's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" and 2003's surprise hit, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

The movie officially opens on Friday in 4,362 U.S. theaters, hitting the all-time high for number of theater openings by topping previous record-holder "Spider-Man 3" by 110 theaters.

Shares of Disney inched up 19 cents to finish at $36.03.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Updated:2007-05-26 15:21:13
Pirates' pulls in $43 million but misses opening-day record

By DAVID GERMAIN

LOS ANGELES - Johnny Depp and his pirate friends pulled in a lot of plunder, but fell far short of a record opening day.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" raked in $43 million (euro31.99 million) domestically Friday, well behind the $59.3 million (euro44.12 million) opening day for "Spider-Man 3" just three weeks earlier, according to studio estimates Saturday.

The numbers for "At World's End" were skewed somewhat because the Walt Disney Co. had preview screenings at about 3,000 theaters Thursday night in advance of the movie's official Friday release.

The movie pulled in $14 million (euro10.42 million) at those screenings, putting its domestic total at $57 million (euro42.41 million) in just over a day. Without the Thursday screenings, much of that business would have been done on Friday instead, putting "At World's End" in range of the top single-day grosses.

"Spider-Man 3," released by Sony Corp ., had broken the single-day box-office record of $55.8 million (euro41.51 million) set last July by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," part two in the action-comedy franchise starring Depp as boozy buccaneer Jack Sparrow.

"Making $57 million (euro42.41 million) in a day and a half is not bad for a bunch of pirates," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "Had all those preview numbers been folded into Friday, it would have maybe been the second-biggest single day in history."

"At World's End" also grossed $44.4 million (euro33.03 million) Friday in 102 international markets. That put its worldwide total at $142.5 million (euro106.02 million) since it began rolling out overseas Wednesday.

Despite opening in a record 4,362 theaters, "At World's End" is unlikely to break the all-time high for a three-day weekend, also held by "Spider-Man 3" with $151.1 million (euro112.42 million), said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.

"Spider-Man 3" snatched the record away from the "Pirates" franchise, which had set a new high of $135.6 million (euro100.89 million) with "Dead Man's Chest."

Viane said the record Disney aimed for is best four-day Memorial Day weekend debut. That record is held by last year's "X-Men: The Last Stand" with $122.9 million (euro91.44 million).

"At World's End" has a shot at that mark if it maintains its Friday momentum.

"Today's date is what matters," Viane said Saturday. "What matters to me now is how is it going to do today?"

The length of "At World's End" - two hours, 47 minutes, nearly half an hour longer than "Spider-Man 3" - is a factor, limiting the number of screenings theaters can squeeze in each day.

Reviews for "At World's End" were mixed at best, though the same was true for "Dead Man's Chest" and other recent blockbusters including "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek the Third."

"We always have this disparity between the critics and the commercial," Viane said. "People just love the idea of Johnny as this character and the whole premise of the trilogy coming to an end."

"At World's End," whose Caribbean portions were shot at the same time as "Dead Man's Chest," picks up where the second movie left off, with Depp's Sparrow consigned to Davy Jones' locker and old allies and enemies (Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush) embarking on a voyage to save him.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Box Office Mojo estimates that the weekend box office for Pirates - At World's End is $112,547,000.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Updated:2007-05-27 14:49:22

Pirates' Opens With $112.5 Million
By DAVID GERMAIN

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Box-office treasure is a little harder to come by on the new voyage of "Pirates of the Caribbean."

The third installment in the Walt Disney Co. franchise, "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," hauled in $112.5 million from Friday to Sunday, well below last summer's $135.6 million opening weekend for its predecessor, "Dead Man's Chest."

"At World's End" had the fifth-biggest three-day opening ever, with this month's "Spider-Man 3" ($151.1 million) and "Shrek the Third" ($121.6 million) both outperforming it.

Adding in $14 million from Thursday night preview screenings, "At World's End" had taken in $126.5 million domestically, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Thursday night screenings skewed the weekend figures for "At World's End," which likely would have done much of that business on Friday without those previews.

"At World's End" took in an additional $205.5 million internationally since it began rolling out overseas Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $332 million.

Though it missed out on key box-office records, "At World's End" is on course to surpass last year's "X-Men: The Last Stand," which had the best four-day Memorial Day weekend debut with $122.9 million.

"We will go flying by that," said Chuck Viane, Disney head of distribution.

After 2003's acclaimed "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," reviews were mixed at best for both sequels.

Critics found the second and third movies more akin to the Disney theme-park attraction on which the franchise is based, cinematic thrill rides whose huge visual set pieces supplanted much of the charm of the first film, which earned Johnny Depp an Academy Award nomination as boozy buccaneer Jack Sparrow.

Released just 10 months after "Dead Man's Chest," the new movie picks up from that cliffhanger as Sparrow's friends and foes (Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush) set sail to rescue him from Davy Jones' locker.

It remains to be seen how well "At World's End" will measure up in the long run to "Curse of the Black Pearl," which topped out at $305 million, and "Dead Man's Chest," last year's biggest hit with $423 million.

"Fifth-biggest opening of all time. There's really nothing to complain about here," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "These numbers tell us that people love to see these `Pirates' movies, regardless of reviews, regardless of any other factors."

With a big first weekend behind it, "At World's End" appears positioned to avoid the fate of some third installments such as "Jurassic Park III" and "The Matrix Revolutions," whose returns fell far short of their predecessors.

The new "Pirates" poached the box-office crown from DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third," whose No. 1 debut a week earlier was a record opening for an animated film. "Shrek the Third" slipped to second place with $51 million, pushing its domestic total just beyond $200 million.

With $13.7 million, Sony's "Spider-Man 3" came in third, raising its domestic take to $303.3 million. Worldwide, "Spider-Man 3" has topped $800 million.

"At World's End" was hindered by a running time of two hours, 47 minutes, limiting the number of screenings theaters could schedule. "Dead Man's Chest" was about 15 minutes shorter and "Spider-Man 3" was nearly a half-hour shorter.

But "At World's End" made up for that by playing in more theaters, an all-time high of 4,362, 110 more than "Spider-Man 3," the previous record-holder.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $112.5 million.

2. "Shrek the Third," $51 million.

3. "Spider-Man 3," $13.7 million.

4. "Bug," $3.3 million.

5. "Waitress," $3.1 million.

6. "28 Weeks Later," $2.5 million.

7. "Georgia Rule," $1.9 million.

8. "Disturbia," $1.8 million.

9. "Wild Hogs," $1.1 million.

10. "Fracture," $1.08 million.

 

[MJMcBride]

Interesting. Amazingly, its a huge hit but still a bit of a disappointment for the Disney execs

 

[Another Voice]

Well, considering that after last year's "big success" of Dead Man's Chest that Disney fired 25% of the Studio staff - you have to bet a lot of suits are wondering what this lastest "huge" numbers are going to wreck on the lot.

If you spend half a billion dollars on a single movie you had better be sure it's one of the greatest movies of all times (Hollywood Lesson #5). Disney didn't make a good movie with At World's End and now things are going to sort themselves out.

 

[YoHo]

I'm more intrigued by the fact that 3 studios have now put out 3 high budget stinkers. I wonder if AWE didn't suffer from Spidey's being junk? I don't mean that it's getting a bad rap. It's getting the rap it deserves. I just mean that it might have opened better had Spidey not pissed everyone off.

Looks to be an interesting summer for hollywood. In the chinese proverb way. At the same time, Pirates will have a few more weeks to stay afloat before any competition comes along. So, it may not do as poorly as Spidey.

We shall see.

 

[crazy4wdw]

'Pirates' captures Memorial Day record with $142.1 million debut
By DAVID GERMAIN

LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" hauled in $142.1 million (euro105.63 million) to commandeer the record for best four-day Memorial Day weekend debut, capping a huge month that puts Hollywood on track for record summer business.

Disney 's third "Pirates" adventure fell far short of breaking the best three-day opening ever, the $151.1 million (euro112.32 million) haul for Sony's "Spider-Man 3" three weeks earlier, according to studio estimates Monday.

Yet "At World's End" cruised past last year's record for best four-day Memorial Day opening, $122.9 million (euro91.36 million) for "X-Men: The Last Stand."

With $115.1 million (euro85.56 million) from Friday to Sunday, "At World's End" was well behind the $135.6 million (euro100.8 million) premiere of its predecessor last summer, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," the second-biggest debut ever.

Chuck Viane, Disney's head of distribution, said "At World's End" had been a longshot to break top box-office records.

"At World's End" runs two hours, 47 minutes, about 15 minutes longer than "Dead Man's Chest" and almost half an hour longer than "Spider-Man 3." That limited the number of screenings theaters could fit in.

"Dead Man's Chest" and "Spider-Man 3" also opened amid lighter competition, while "At World's End" was up against "Spider-Man 3" and DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third."

"This is probably the most competitive Memorial weekend ever if not one of the most competitive weekends all time. It speaks volumes for how well we did," Viane said. "Obviously, we fell short of the three-day record of `Spidey.' Everything's really obvious and really good."

Adding in $14 million (euro10.41 million) from Thursday night previews before its official Friday release, "At World's End" had taken in $156.1 million (euro116.03 million) domestically.

The movie also grossed $245 million (euro182.12 million) internationally since Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $401 million (euro298.07 million) in a matter of days.

The movie picks where "Dead Man's Chest" left off, with Johnny Depp's wily pirate Jack Sparrow consigned to Davy Jones' locker and his old associates embarking on a rescue mission.

"At World's End" took over the top spot at the box office from "Shrek the Third," which slipped to No. 2 with $69.1 million (euro51.36 million) , raising its domestic total to $219.4 million (euro163.09 million). "Spider-Man 3" came in third with $18 million (euro13.38 million), putting its domestic total at $307.6 million (euro228.65 million).

The weekend's only other new wide release, Lionsgate's psychological thriller "Bug," had a so-so opening, coming in at No. 4 with $4.2 million (euro3.12 million). Directed by William Friedkin ("The Exorcist"), the movie stars Ashley Judd as a waitress who takes up with a drifter and is drawn into his delusional conspiracy theories.

The combination of "At World's End," "Shrek the Third" and "Spider-Man 3" lifted Hollywood to a record Memorial Day weekend with overall revenues of $265 million (euro196.98 million), topping the previous high of $247 million (euro183.6 million) set in 2004.

For the year, revenues are at $3.6 billion (euro2.68 billion), 6.4 percent ahead of last year's, according to box-office tracker Media By Numbers. Factoring in higher ticket prices, movie admissions are up 2.6 percent.

The rise in movie attendance leaves the industry in good shape for summer, which has an unusually strong lineup that includes "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," "Transformers," "Ocean's Thirteen," "The Bourne Ultimatum" and "The Simpsons Movie."

"Summer ain't over," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Media By Numbers, who predicted Hollywood could bring in record summer revenue topping $4 billion. "You've got a record number of people in theaters seeing all the trailers and marketing materials for these upcoming films. I've never seen a summer so well positioned."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," $142.1 million.

2. "Shrek the Third," $69.1 million.

3. "Spider-Man 3," $18 million.

4. "Bug," $4.2 million.

5. "Waitress," $4 million.

6. "28 Weeks Later," $3.3 million.

7. "Disturbia," $2.4 million.

8. "Georgia Rule," $2.38 million.

9. "Fracture," $1.6 million.

10. "Wild Hogs," $1.4 million.

 

[crazy4wdw]

Total Box Office - Impressive!

The movie also grossed $245 million (euro182.12 million) internationally since Wednesday, putting its worldwide total at $401 million (euro298.07 million) in a matter of days.

 

[plutospup]

Our 11 a.m. showing was about 2/3rds full. Pretty impressive considering this is a small market where this film has been shown at least 21 times/day at two separate theaters (Many have been sellouts).

As for the film...DD9 and I loved it! It was the fastest 3 hrs I've ever spent watching a movie. Geoffrey Rush was great as Barbossa. Of course watching Elizabeth was easy on the eyes. I was impressed by how Elizabeth's character became such a driving force in the movie.

Bottom line...Disney is going to make buckets of money on this film. Because of this weekend's competition I wouldn't be surprised to see big numbers for the next few weekends. Not opening weekend numbers, but still impressive.

 

[MJMcBride]

I'm more intrigued by the fact that 3 studios have now put out 3 high budget stinkers. I wonder if AWE didn't suffer from Spidey's being junk? I don't mean that it's getting a bad rap. It's getting the rap it deserves. I just mean that it might have opened better had Spidey not pissed everyone off.

Looks to be an interesting summer for hollywood. In the chinese proverb way. At the same time, Pirates will have a few more weeks to stay afloat before any competition comes along. So, it may not do as poorly as Spidey.

We shall see.

Did you like the other Spider Man movies? Cause I liked the Third.

 

[YoHo]

I honestly haven't seen any of them, but I've met nobody (till you) that thought the movie was anything other then worthless. The user Tomatometer is horrid. Shrek 3 is bad too. In fact, Pirates currently has the best user rating of the 3.

 

[EUROPACL]

I honestly haven't seen any of them, but I've met nobody (till you) that thought the movie was anything other then worthless. The user Tomatometer is horrid. Shrek 3 is bad too. In fact, Pirates currently has the best user rating of the 3.

Yep...X-Men 3 ..bad
Spiderman 3 ...Horrible
Shrek 3....looks and sounds so bad that I'll wait for HBO.
POTC ....bad movie.