HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today Newsmagazine) 5/20/11 – Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is being projected for a $110 million opening weekend, more than $90 million more than its closest competitor Thor, which 635 boxofficemojo mostly-armchair predictors pegged at $18M.
It did $4.7 million on midnight Thursday showings in the U.S. alone.
While it’s just now setting sail in the U.S. P4 started overseas Wednesday. The movie earned $18.5 million from 10 markets on its first day, then added $25.7 million from 37 territories on Thursday. According to distributor Walt Disney Pictures, its $44.2 million two-day haul was up 10 percent from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. That movie went on to have one of the highest-grossing overseas debuts ever with $216 million on its way to a massive $654 million total.
Capitan Jack Sparrow would be pleased as he did it without the critic’s help, many of whom who said four was too many. Have these brain-deads ever heard of Harry Potter (7 films), Batman (6) Rambo & Rocky (10 altogether) or … James Bond (23) ?
Johnny Depp said “his family is the only critics that matter.” Depp, who has two children with French actress Vanessa Paradis said the kids “Go and see the movies and basically, I can tell by their reaction if I did all right or not. So I’m very lucky in that way. They seem to enjoy them so far. I haven’t been fired by my kids.”
Depp, speaking in Cannes whose Film Festival which ends this weekend, didn’t seem to throw down his cutlass over critical opinion. “Yeah, I’ve always feared the critics. They really scare me,” Depp joked.
Disney would keep making them for decades, if business allowed. After all, the Pirates franchise has earned $2.6 billion in worldwide box office and that does not include DVD, cable or merchandise sales.
As for a fifth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Depp said he would stop if the audience wanted him to. “Possibilities are limitless when working with people like Jerry Bruckheimer, director Rob Marshall, and great actors.” However, Depp also revealed that he already knows when to call it quits on the Pirates franchise. “And if the people get tired of it or something, that’s when it stops.”
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, speaking in Beverly Hills said of P5 prospects: “We just got a rough first draft in (for Pirates 5). It will take some time.”
Adds Depp, “There’s a very clever idea that’s being hatched in terms of Pirates 5 and 6. We’re actually going to shoot it on the (Disneyland) ride. (It will be) just us going around in a circle.”
This sequel introduces various new characters, including Sparrow’s former flame Angelica (Penelope Cruz), and the merciless pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane).
For Depp and Cruz, the film may mark the first time they’ve crossed swords, but not paths. In 2001, they co-starred in the cocaine-fuelled opus Blow.
“The weird thing was that it felt like we’d wrapped Blow the week before or a few days before,” Depp says.
“We just clicked instantly. Whatever exists, in terms of chemistry, was just instantly firing on all cylinders. It felt completely right “¦ I was very, very excited to have Penelope come into this film. I knew she would be — not only a worthy opponent — but someone who would just kill the scenes. And she did. She was incredible.”
Depp was the highest paid actor in the business, last time Hollywood Today checked, what with a $30 million deal plus 30 percent on gross backend, according to sources. He bought an island after P2 (20M + 20%) and may have made $70 million on P3 to build a new dock for pirate ships.
He said he was “happily cursed” as most of his movies made no money as all. “I am enjoying a career based on failures.”
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