‘Pirates’ on course for record
In the treasure hunt for Hollywood records, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” made off with a few bragging rights.
But it can’t claim the industry’s benchmark record -- biggest opening weekend in the U.S. and Canada -- set this month by “Spider-Man 3.”
The Walt Disney Co. film logged a weekend box-office gross of $112.5 million domestically -- $126.5 million if Thursday night “previews” are counted -- according to results released Sunday by box-office tracker Media by Numbers.
That puts it well behind Spidey’s three-day record of $151 million.
Nonetheless, “Pirates” should easily break the industry’s holiday weekend box-office record of $122.9 million set Memorial Day weekend of last year by “X-Men 3: The Last Stand” and, according to Disney, should also achieve the largest global opening ever. More complete holiday box-office totals are scheduled to be released today.
Hollywood studios slice and dice box-office data to secure bragging rights. But extensive previews and differences in the way films open overseas can make comparisons difficult.
Although “Pirates” opened on more than 11,000 domestic screens in a record 4,362 theaters, its nearly three-hour length limited the number of showings.
Mark Zoradi, president of Disney’s motion picture marketing and distribution, noted that “Pirates” had stiff competition, with “Shrek the Third” and “Spider-Man 3” still playing in theaters.
“We’re not looking back at all, and couldn’t be happier,” he said.
Critics also weren’t kind to the film, although reviews typically have a limited effect at the box office on summer action blockbusters.
“This is the kind of movie where reviews don’t mean as much,” Zoradi said. “Audiences voted with their ticket purchases.”
Media by Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian said that having extensive previews -- “Pirates” set a record with a gross of $14 million on Thursday night -- meant Disney wasn’t necessarily aiming to set a new three-day mark.
“The notion that it was out to beat “Spider-Man 3” was misguided,” he said. “When you put the film out for the fans on a Thursday, you’re not chasing a record.”
Disney said “Pirates,” starring Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow, was on track to gross $205.5 million in foreign markets through today. The studio predicted the film would pass the $381.7-million global opening of “Spider-Man 3.” Zoradi said the film had yet to open in China, India and Lebanon.
“Shrek the Third,” a DreamWorks Animation SKG film distributed by Paramount Pictures, finished second in the three-day period at $51 million. Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man 3” was next, grossing $13.7 million.
Media by Numbers put the cumulative domestic gross of “Shrek the Third” at $215.7 million, and “Spider-Man 3” at $303.3 million.
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