Pirates' Estimated $55M Haul Sets Record

[Omaha Steve]

Full story: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060708/D8IO2K6O1.html

'Pirates' Estimated $55M Haul Sets Record
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Jul 8, 5:55 PM (ET)

By GREG RISLING

(AP) U.S. actor Johnny Depp, center, U.S. film producer Jerry Bruckheimer, left, and British actor...
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LOS ANGELES (AP) - Move over Darth Vader. Captain Jack Sparrow is king for a day. Preliminary estimates released by Disney show that "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" earned $55.5 million on Friday, which would set the record for the largest one-day take at the box office. The previous record was set last year by "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," which grossed about $50 million.

The movie was shown on 4,133 screens, beginning at midnight Friday. Only 2004's "Shrek 2" and "Spider-Man 2" debuted on more screens.

Disney also received reports of continuous sellouts and requests to add more screens at multiplexes.

"We're obviously thrilled beyond belief. Anytime you break an industry record ... the word ecstatic comes to mind," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution at Disney.


U.S. actor Johnny Depp, center, U.S. film producer Jerry Bruckheimer, left, and British actor Orlando Bloom attend the screening for the French premiere of their latest movie "Pirates of the Caribean: Dead Man's Chest," in Paris, Thursday July 6, 2006. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

The swashbuckling sequel is on pace to eclipse the three-day, box-office record held by "Spider-Man" in 2002 with $114.8 million.

"This goes a long way of dispelling the notion that people don't want to go to movies anymore," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-officer tracker Exhibitor Relations. "People aren't waiting for the DVD on this one. They are going out to see it."

[Botany]

1. Damn because the first one sucked

Johnny Depp was great but the movie sucked .... too many special effects .... oh look they are
going to become skeletons again ..... the actress was pretty but very weak playing the love
interest and Bloom was so so @ best.

[niyad]

2. sometimes eye candy is a sufficient reason to like a movie

[TheDebbieDee]

5. Eye candy is the only reason

I've seen Superman Returns twice......

[Cha]

7. IMO, the writing was

good, too and lest we not forget..Johnny Depp was nominated for an Academy Award for playing Capn' Jack Sparrow~Drunken Pirate Esquire :smoke:

[puffthemagicdragon]

25. This movie has SERIOUS eye candy I will cough up the money

Depp and Bloom in a movie together - regardless of the plot - is enough to get me to the theatre....mmmm yummy!

[SquireJons]

14. Opinions are like...

...well, opinions. I happened to like the first one a lot. And I expect that I'll like the second one as well. Not every movie has to be Citizen Kane to be enjoyable. Lighten up, or at least preface your comments with 'In my not so humble opinion."

[humbled_opinion]

26. Hey thats my line screen name...

Just kidding and I agree. I liked the first one too... and will be going to see this one... the special effects alone are worth the effort.

[kutastha]

3. At $10 a ticket

And 4000+ theaters, it should be expected that this record will be broken again and again. Hard to compare to movies 30 years ago.

[Ilsa]

4. The Ninja guy gave it a horrible review on NPR

yesterday. Said everybody and everything had a plotline and nothing got resolved.

But the eye candy is delicious. Too bad Keira Knightley is practically ready to portray a skeleton. She is simply way too thin, and that is too bad, as she is an incredibly beautiful.

[heliarc]

17. Keira Knightly is in drag though

C'mon admit it guys... that's kinda hot!

[Cha]

6. Finally, maybe a movie that

has a sequel as good if not better than the first! They would have to go some to do that, imho. I'm such a movie buff :applause:

[Tesha]

8. The SF Chron said it sucked. (Just FYI) (NT)

[Cha]

10. Arrgh, matey! "In Touch"

magazine said it was the "Best Of The WeeK"(Hot Hits You Can't Miss). "Exciting, Scarey, and Romantic". Guess I'll be the judge of that! B-)

[Paulie]

23. Alien/Aliens

Where the sequel was better, IMHO. :) :) :)

Though I will say its rare for a REmake to be better than the original.

[kath]

27. Also, Godfather/Godfather2 - many (including hubby) say that #2 was at

least as good as the first (I haven't seen #2, so no opinion from me)

[ChazII]

9. The movie was entertaining

and I learned long ago to not listen to movie critics. I went to the 11:00 a.m. showing and the theater was packed and the next two showings were sold out, too.

[AwareOne]

11. Entertainment Weekly features the cast on the front cover

this week and gives the film a six page spread. The review in the same issue gives the movie a D+ and has nothing kind to say about it at all. People will watch any kind of shit as long as it has plenty of bells and whistles.

[bluestateguy]

12. Aren't the Pirates in last place this year?

nt

[hertopos]

13. Hey, I liked it

Ok, the story line is a bit confusing and I ended up buying novelazation of this movie. ( I saw Friday 1 pm. show and it was already packed.)

I don't think it is because they show at many theaters. Because it is packed everywhere and sold out everywhere.

Anyway, this is what I really like about the movie. Almost every charactor.
This is the difference between other popcorn movie and this movie.
This is why I care less about confusing story. Besides, the movie does not take itself seriously. That's something we really need sometime.

It is not just a FX eye candy. Unlike any other FX heavy movie, many monstors are just so cool to look at.

Spoiler Alert

OH, I love David Jones and his crew.

Forget about critics, go to see one as if you are still 14 years old.

Hertopos

[otohara]

22. Me Too, It Was Fun

loved the scene where they are in the round cages - fun, fun, fun!

[mnhtnbb]

15. Shows were sold out around here. The parking lot at the mall

looked like Christmas!

[MercutioATC]

16. Part III is going to fare even better...

Hell, with Keith Richards as Johnny Depp's father, it deserves to...

http://www.forbes.com/home/feeds/ap/2006/07/05/ap2858573.html

[heliarc]

18. Yeah when they raise ticket prices to 11 dollars

like they are at the Cineramadome here in LA... well then they'll take all our money away! Yippee. I'm thrilled its a great movie

...actually, I'm a big fan... but I'm lucky... I'm in a disney family so I get to see it tomorrow for free! Sweet!

[sandnsea]

19. My kids said it was long and "over the top"

They said it relied too much on slap-stick and the story wasn't as developed as the first movie. They usually like these kinds of movies, for whatever that's worth.

I got to baby-sit the grandbaby, which is always better than a movie in my book. :)

Oh, and they went to the matinee and it was only $5.00.

[NYC Liberal]

20. I liked it, thought it was entertaining.

I was lucky though. I was going to a 9:30 show and early in the afternoon I thought "You know, maybe I should get the tix online, just in case." So I did.

Get to the theatre and get the tickets from the machine. Then I see on the board - 9:30: SOLD OUT. Hehe. ;)

[monk24]

21. Will definitely see "Pirates II" in the theater

I loved Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl. For me, it was the right combination of characterizations (everyone lauds Johnny Depp's performance as Captain Jack Sparrow, and rightfully so, but Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of Captain Barbossa was brilliant as well) chemistry amongst the actors, writing and musical score.

The biggest knocks against the sequel are: 1) too long, runs about 2.5 hrs., and 2) too many plots/subplots that aren't tied up. I hope they take care of that in "Pirates III."

But I enjoyed the original so much, I will see "Pirates II" in the theater, instead of waiting for release on DVD.

:hippie:

[davsand]

24. Escapism at its best!

We saw it yesterday and it is pure escapism and high entertainment. You have to figure that a lot of people are willing to pay a bit for a couple of hours of freedom from the current realities. For two hours I got to sit and forget about family illnesses, my horrible work environment and the current political/world situation.

Plus, I got to look at Depp and Bloom in the same movie...

Not a bad deal, IMO.

I dunno, my movie taste may be in my butt, but I seriously do not WANT every movie I see to be intense drama or fine art. I kind of appreciate being able to just kick back sometimes and be entertained without having to work too hard at it intellectually.

For a good time go see it!

Regards!


Laura

[GA Dem]

28. Gore doing well too

"An Inconvenient Truth," the documentary based on former Vice President Al Gore's campaign to raise awareness of global warming, is now fourth-highest grossing documentary in the US market, according to figures compiled by boxofficemojo.com.

The Gore movie passed "Madonna: Truth or Dare" to reach the No. 4 spot this weekend. It has grossed just over $15 million in the United States, boxofficemojo.com estimated.

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Gores_Inconvenient_Truth_passes_Madonna_for_0709.html

[Turbineguy]

29. When the DVD

of the first one came out, my daughter and a few of her friends were watching it.

As it happens, Johnny Depp's character reminds me of one of my classmates. (He drove a motorcycle off a cliff. We found him at the bottom still clutching the handlebars. "I was too busy to be scared!". We are both retired now.)

The girls were horrified when I blurted out: "I went to college with people like that!"

[cobalt1999]

30. oh come on...

these are just fun movies, it's not intended to be the next Godfather. Sure, fighting the undead in the "Black Pearl" is just plain silly, but it was meant to be silly.

It's just a escapist summer movie and if you go in with that attitude, it's quite entertaining.

Besides, after a few hours watching Depp, my wife is usually in the mood to be entertaining. :)

[kath]

31. heh - after watching Depp and Bloom, I would suspect that a LOT of women

come out of the theater feeling a bit, ummm, riled up, shall we say... :-)