The Walt Disney Studios’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World’s End’ Uncovers $58 Million in Worldwide Box Office Treasures in
Pre-Weekend Tally; Figure Includes $17 Million from Domestic Shows on
Thursday Evening
Walt Disney Pictures is reporting a phenomenal worldwide gross of $58 million in its
first two days of "Pirates of the Caribbean: At
World’s End".
Domestically, the film was virtually sold out in theatres across the country
on Thursday night and collected a cool $17 million from th
e evening
showings. Overseas, the film grossed a swashbuckling $12.1 million on Wednesday, and brought in an additional $29 million from
Thursday showings in a total of 39 territories.
In other good news, exit surveys across the United
States for this latest installment in the blockbuster "Pirates" series gave
the film among the highest numbers in Disney’s history and placed it well
above comparable scores for the previous two films in the trilogy. Responding
to the opening night reactions and anticipated demand for the film, exhibitors
everywhere were adding seats to accommodate the demand.
Commenting on the announcement, Mark Zoradi,
president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Marketing and Distribution, said, "We’re thrilled beyond belief
with these spectacular early returns for ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s
End’ and anticipate that the incredible excitement and demand will continue
throughout the weekend and summer. Reaction to the film from the fans has
been overwhelming and it’s clear that they love seeing Johnny Depp’s
captivating portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow, and his talented co-stars
Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. The return of such top actors as Geoffrey
Rush, Bill Nighy, and Naomie Harris, along with the addition of the great Chow
Yun-Fat adds to the fun and makes it a great movie experience. Jerry
Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski have come up with a worthy successor to the
previous two blockbuster hits and this film delivers everything you could
possibly want in an epic motion picture."
The question is can the box office break Spidey 3’s $150 million opening weekend record and can it break the Memorial Day Weekend record. I don’t think Disney will be happy with anything other than a huge first weekend if they’re to break the Billion Dollar Worldwide mark again.