Box office report for May 23, 2011: “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” plunders its way to No. 1
The fourth “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, “On Stranger Tides,” plundered its way to the top of the domestic box office over the weekend, earning $90.1 million domestically.
But the reboot found its smoothest sailing overseas, where it took in a record $256.3 million at the international box office, according to the Associated Press.
The latest “Pirates” sailed past the previous record foreign opening of the sixth “Harry Potter” film, 2009′s “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” which earned $236 million internationally.
“On Stranger Tides’” combined worldwide total is $346.4 million, the fourth largest global opening ever.
After treating their characters so badly in the third film, the new 3-D installment jettisons co-stars Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom. It shifts the even more emphasis to Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow, a character I feel works best as a supporter rather than a lead. “Chicago” director Rob Marshall takes the helm from Gore Verbinski, who directed the trilogy. Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane join the franchise with the new film.
It was a risky reboot considering the popularity of the previous “Pirates” films. The last, 2007′s “At World’s End,” opened with $114.7 million, according to the AP.
But “At World’s End” was badly reviewed and disappointing to much of its audience. So Disney, who has expansive merchandising and theme park tie-ins connected to “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which originated with the Disney ride, too drastic measures to keep the franchise from sinking. The first three movies earned a combined $2.7 billion worldwide, according to the AP.
“The whole play of this particular movie was based on a worldwide release because of our feeling of how strong the international marketplace would be,” Chuck Viane, head of distribution at Disney, told the AP. “Johnny is not just a domestic star. Johnny is an international star.”
Viane said the result vindicated the franchise’s new look, that audiences “loved the rebooted attitude.” Viane didn’t comment on whether this meant a subsequent fifth film, but that seems likely, provided Mr. Depp jumps back onboard. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer already has a script in the works.
“On Stranger Tides” was the only new film in wide-release on the weekend. In its second week of release, the well-reviewed comedy “Bridesmaids,” starring “Saturday Night Live” standout Kristen Wiig, finished second at the box office with $21 million. It was an impressively small drop of just 20 percent from the Universal release’s opening weekend of $26.2 million.
According to the AP, the slight decrease was even smaller than comedies like “The Hangover” and “Wedding Crashers,” which had similarly strong word-of-mouth.
Last week’s top film at the box office, the comic book adaptation “Thor,” from Paramount, slid to third place in its third week of release. It earned $15.5 million, bringing its domestic cumulative total to $145.4 million.
Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of the fantastical Marvel comic has thundered up an additional $247 million internationally, for a global total of $392.4 million, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Though “On Stranger Tides” had the best North American opening of the year, the international revenue was the larger story. The film traded on its foreign appeal by casting international stars like Cruz and setting itself in bright tropical locales.
“This proves the importance of the global marketplace,” Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the AP.
The film performed especially strong in Russia, China and India, accounting for $52.6 million. It set an all-time record in Russia, taking in $28.6 million.
The film benefited from higher ticket prices for 3-D showings, but perhaps more importantly from IMAX screenings. “On Stranger Tides” set a global record for IMAX with $16.7 million worldwide, according to the AP.
Propelled largely by the “Pirates” installment and the continuing success of “Bridesmaids,” it was the second “up” weekend in a row as compared with box office figures from the same weekend last year. Next weekend, the three-day Memorial Day weekend, also appears bright, with the anticipated – and polar opposite – sequels “The Hangover Part II” from Warner Bros. and “Kung Fu Panda 2″ from Paramount opening in theaters. (Look for my “Kung Fu Panda 2″ review on Thursday, the day it opens.)
Combined with the second weekend of “On Stranger Tides,” Dergarabedian told AP he expects it to be one of the biggest moviegoing Memorial Day weekends ever.
Here are the top 10 movies from the weekend, from the AP:
1. “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” $90.1 million.
2. “Bridesmaids,” $21 million.
3. “Thor,” $15.5 million.
4. “Fast Five,” $10.6 million.
5. “Rio,” $4.7 million.
6. “Priest,” $4.6 million.
7. “Jumping the Broom,” $3.7 million.
8. “Something Borrowed,” $3.4 million.
9. “Water For Elephants,” $2.2 million.
10. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,” $990,000.
-BAM
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