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| Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'' took in a record $142.1 million, leading Hollywood to its biggest Memorial Day weekend ever. Domestic ticket sales for the Walt Disney Co. film were the most ever over the four-day holiday, surpassing the $122.9 million brought in by ``X-Men: The Last Stand'' in 2006, Media By Numbers LLC said today in a statement. ``Pirates,'' starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, was the third film this month to surpass $100 million in sales its first weekend. With ``Shrek the Third'' and ``Spider-Man 3'' still in theaters, the four-day take for the top 12 films was $250.2 million, more than the $231.8 million taken in last year. ``I think it's still a very strong opening for Disney given the competition,'' said Gitesh Pandya, editor of Boxofficeguru.com. Given the presence of ``Shrek and ``Spider- Man,'' ``that's $87 million that Pirates could never have its hands on.'' ``Shrek'' sold $69 million in tickets over the four days, bringing its two-week total in the U.S. and Canada to $219.4 million for DreamWorks Animation SKG and distributor Paramount Pictures. ``Spider-Man 3,'' from Sony Corp., sold $18 million, reaching $307.6 million in its fourth week. ``Pirates'' played in a record 4,362 theaters. The film's $115 million three-day total lags behind the $151 million opening- weekend record set by ``Spider-Man 3'' after its May 4 release, and the $121.6 million for ``Shrek the Third,'' which opened May 18. More Sequels Domestic ticket sales for ``Pirates,'' including evening shows in 3,100 cinemas on Thursday, May 24, came to $156 million, Encino, California-based Media By Numbers said. Sales for the third ``Pirates'' probably won't hold up as well as last year's second movie in the series, Pandya said. The second-week declines for ``Shrek the Third'' and ``Spider-Man 3'' were bigger than those of their predecessors. ``You're certainly seeing these three sequels opening big and then dropping big,'' Pandya said. ``The movies are not as good as the previous ones, so people are not liking them as much, and then there's the competition.'' The films are among 14 sequels Hollywood studios are releasing this summer. The slate also includes a new ``Harry Potter'' film from Time Warner Inc., scheduled for July 13, and sequels to News Corp.'s ``Fantastic Four'' series and Universal Pictures' ``Bourne'' thrillers. `Pirates' ``Pirates,'' which cost $225 million to make, according to Box Office Mojo LLC, missed Pandya's $162 million estimate for the four-day weekend. JP Morgan Securities analyst Imran Khan in New York had predicted $116 million. In the movie, Depp's character is rescued from the afterlife by his friends, played by Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom. They eventually join other pirates in a battle to halt the growing power of Britain's East India Trading Co. The film received mixed reviews from critics who said that with a running time of 2 hours and 45 minutes, it was too long and had too many plot twists. Of 93 reviews posted on Rottentomatoes.com, 42 were negative. |
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| LONDON -- "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" showed steady sea legs and no seasickness in its second voyage at the European box office this weekend. The Disney swashbuckler faced little direct competish from new fare but there were some notable counterprogramming successes including a decent Italo opening haul for Tarantino's "Death Proof," despite some negative local press. Outside the U.S., "At World's End" has plundered its biggest box office booty in Blighty. The swashbuckler may not have broken any U.K. opening weekend records but it is showing good staying power. In its soph sesh, the actioner dipped a very respectable 53% to $10.7 million at 550 for a $19,486 screen average. The strong second frame propelled "Pirates" to a $58.3 million running cume after 11 days on release. That puts it well ahead of last year's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which grossed $34.4 million from 514 in its first 11 days. "Dead Man's Chest" went on to bag a whammo $103.1 million, making it the second biggest grosser released in 2006 -- trailing only "Casino Royale." "At World's End" has already lapped the original pic in the franchise, which pocketed $55.8 million in 2003. The result is particularly pleasing for Mouse House brass as weekend weather was very warm -- traditionally more conducive to a trip to the beach than to the local multiplex in the U.K. To Robert Mitchell, m.d., BVI U.K., the ongoing success is attributable to a few key factors: "It ties up all the loose ends. It was always written as a trilogy and this film finishes the trilogy," adding that "the enduring appeal of the Jack Sparrow character and the blossoming of the relationship between Orlando Bloom's character and Keira Knightley's character in the third installment" are captivating Brit auds. Mitchell reports that exit polls results are "superb" and is confident the pic can prove to be the one to last through the summer, partly thanks to repeat visits. Yank laffer "Wedding Daze" worked as very effective counterprogramming to "Pirates." The Jason Biggs starrer collected $1.6 million (including $290,159 in previews) at 344 and second spot in the process. "At World's End" is catching "Spider-Man 3" in Blighty. The Sony comic book actioner dropped 54% in its fifth frame to $1.2 million at 451 and a $64.7 million running total -- $6.4 million ahead of "At World's End." Horror remake "The Hitcher" failed to scare up much biz on its Euro debut in Blighty via Universal. The pic, which toplines Brit thesp Sean Bean, managed a weak $434,014 at a wide 255 -- good enough for sixth in the charts. It didn't get a helping hand from the Brit critics: "Bloated, boring and over-explained, this gets a definite thumbs-down," wrote Nigel Floyd in London listings mag Time Out. Faring better was rival horror "Paradise Lost" from Lionsgate U.K., which took $809,689 from 292. Pic is being released as "Turistas" (U.S. title) elsewhere in Europe. Homegrown laffer "Mr Bean's Holiday" is still chugging along for Universal. The Rowan Atkinson starrer dropped 27% in its 10th frame for a $43.9 cume to date. In Italy, Captain Jack commanded a solid second frame, dropping a mere 32% to $5.1 million on 878. But while "At World's End" capitalized on the rainy Italo weekend, the pic didn't cannibalize all the competish, especially not Quentin Tarantino's "Death Proof," which debuted at a lively $1.2 million on 343 via Medusa, ousting Spidey from the second spot. Tarantino's trashy homage to B movies did better than expected in the face of largely negative reviews and despite the helmer's highly publicized comments on the state of current Italo cinema, which Tarantino branded "depressing." "Spider-Man 3" dropped a mere 22% in its fifth frame scoring $776,000 on 273 for a $23.6 million running cume. Second frame cume for "At World's End" is $17.2 million, putting it ahead of the first "Pirates" pic, but behind "Dead Man's Chest," which at this stage had pulled $20 million in Italy, per national box office compiler Cinetel. Yang Zimou's "Curse of the Golden Flower" rose from fifth to fourth place in its soph sesh, pulling $519,000 for a $1.2 million cume via 01 Distribuzione. Mira Nair's "The Namesake" debuted nicely, taking $173,500 at 50 via Fox and scoring the frame's second-highest per screen average -- $3,470. Yank chiller "Turistas" lured some teen visitors, scoring $400,000 on 126 via Eagle Pictures. In Germany, "At World's End" slipped 47% to $9.7 million at 974 en route to a $38 million running take. That puts it close behind "Dead Man's Chest," which had banked $40.6 million at the same stage. "At World's End" utterly dominates German box office; opener "Zodiac" came in a distant second with $813,571 from 150 via WB. "At World's End" has overtaken "Spider-Man 3" in Germany. The webslinger landed third spot with $651,437 at 641 for a $28.4 million cume. Local Teuton pics are working well as counterprogramming to the summer blockbusters. 3L's French-German romantic comedy "2 Days in Paris" from director-thesp Julie Delpy dipped just 15% in its third session for a $1.1 million cume. Constantin's tyke pic "Herr Bello," about a dog that drinks a potion and turns into a human, leapt up 3% on its way to a $1.2 million total in its third week. At number 10, X Verleih's "Shoppen," a comedy about desperate singles searching for the right partner through speed dating, was up 2% in its fifth frame for a total of $1.5 million. In France, "At World's End" dropped off 57% to $7.3 million at 783, moving the cume to $29 million according to French box office compiler CBO. Meanwhile, "Spider-Man 3" bagged another million, taking its Gallic cume to $48 million. Top opener in Gaul was Al Pacino starrer "88 Minutes," which is not released Stateside until 2008. The Jon Avnet helmed effort took $895,000 at 194 via Metropolitan. The pic posted the second best screen average behind "At World's End" despite getting the thumbs down from French crix. "Zodiac" continues to perform well at Gallic wickets. The cerebral thriller, which benefited from a splashy Cannes launch, dipped 42% in its third frame for a $6.8 million total. Upmarket home-made offerings have only done so-so biz, despite buzz from Cannes. Christophe Honore's romantic comedy "Love Songs," a Palme d'Or nominee, has taken in over $1.2 million on 240 after two frames for Bac. Helmer Julian Schnabel took best director prize for Franco-American co-production "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," which has been lauded by French crix. The surrealistic memoirs and musings of a paralyzed Elle France editor, toplining Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner, has made Pathe a little under $815,000 on 222 after two frames. In Spain, "At World's End" followed up on its record-breaking opening weekend by dropping a respectable 50% to $6 million in its soph sesh. The running total stands at $21.1 million. "We expected a 60% fall, which 'Pirates 3' outperformed," commented one Spanish booker, while another added "the word of mouth is great and reflects the enormous popularity of the franchise." Despite the bumper biz, "At World's End" is still lagging behind its immediate predecessor. By its second weekend, "Dead Man's Chest" had grossed $25.6 million, $4.5 million more than the current installment. Other American films failed to lure Spanish auds. Tragicomedy "In the Land of Women" grossed a so-so $503,457 on 200, despite favorable reviews from Spanish critics. German director Katja von Garnier American debut "Blood and Chocolate" failed to capture Spanish audiences, making $277,407 at 157. Drowning even deeper in the wake of "Pirates" were Euro pics, which sunk below exhibitors' expectations and even lower than Yank competitors. Spanish production "Solitary Fragments" received praise at Cannes but failed to pull domestic audiences into theaters. Italian debut "Il mil miglior nemico" also failed to excite. |
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| Principals: Andy Mooney, chairman, Disney Consumer Products; Eva Steortz, VP of film franchise licensing, DCP Licensees include: Zizzle and Mega Bloks for toys, Starlite for electronics The story: Disney's third "Pirates of the Caribbean" feature, "At World's End," is closing in on the billion-dollar mark at the global box office. And on the merchandising side, Jack Sparrow action figures and other Zizzle toys got a major in-store promotional push at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us this spring, with the latest film installment adding new characters (Asian pirates Tai Huang and Sao Feng, just to name a few), ships, locations, and interactive game elements. While "Pirates" stationary has sold well with tween girls, the brand's core lubbers are boys ages 4 to 11. Meanwhile, collectors have even pillaged high-end deluxe action figures sold in Japan. And many a beauty is smitten with actors Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom, who take part in product development. POV: "We have a very, very close working relationship with the studio, director and producer," says Jim Fielding, exec VP, Disney Global retail sales and marketing. "We develop products simultaneously with the film, very tied to the story." |
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| The opening week sales of Hollywood blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" have surpassed that of "Spiderman 3" despite protests from some Chinese filmgoers that censorship of Chow Yun-Fat's role had made the plot difficult to follow. The film reaped nearly 80 million yuan (10.4 million US dollars) on the Chinese mainland in its first week since its release on June 12, 10 million yuan more than "Spiderman 3" amassed in its first week. "The box office opens at 10 a.m. but people were queuing up for tickets as early as nine," said a manager surnamed Yuan at a cinema in Beijing. "We have had to lay on extra showings every day to satisfy the demand," said another manager surnamed Yu from another cinema, "the situation is likely to continue until the end of this weekend." Chinese movie star Chow Yun-Fat's role has been slashed in half by censors in China for vilifying and defacing the Chinese and insulting Singapore. The film shows only about 10 minutes of Chow's scenes while in the Hollywood version his scenes take up about 20 minutes of the film. Although the role of Chow has been slashed, many cinema goers were not deterred. "It was interesting to see Chow's ferocious looking appearance among a group of pirates," said a fan surnamed Jiao, "Despite the cuts, I am still excited about his performance in a Hollywood-made movie." Gao Jun, a member of staff with Beijing's New Film Association, said "According to the current situation, there is no doubt the film's box office revenue will exceed 100 million yuan." As the third installment in the popular Disney series, "Pirates 3" starring Johnny Depp took in a record 1.3 million U.S dollars on its opening day in China. And it is reportedly the fastest film ever to take 500 million dollars at the global box office. The popularity of "Pirates 3" has also driven up sales of the DVD of "Pirates 2", which was not released in cinemas on the mainland. |
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| LATEST: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END has recorded box office takings of over 80 million yuan ($19.54 million; GBP5.27 million) since its release in China last week - despite being drastically cut by the country's censors. The third installment of the swashbuckling franchise has posted the profits since its 12 June (07) release in the country which saw scenes featuring Chow Yun-Fat as a bald, scarred pirate cut from 20 minutes to 10 minutes for allegedly "vilifying and defacing the Chinese", according to local press reports. The movie's takings have surpassed those of Spider-Man 3 - which sits atop China's box office takings chart for 2007, with 100 million yuan ($13.18 million; GBP6.59 million) earned since its release. |