Weekend Box Office: 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides' Gets the Loot
by Andy Neuenschwander
With a budget of around $250 million, "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" needed a strong opening. And it got one...sort of.
The fourth installment in the "Pirates" series had a record-breaking international total of $256.3 million, but pulled in a relatively soft $90 million in the U.S.
Of course, $90 million is still a great opening for any film, but soft by "Pirates of the Caribbean" standards. "At World's End" raked in around $115 million in its opening, and "Dead Man's Chest" earned a whopping $135.6 million. When you add in the fact that "On Stranger Tides" is a 3D movie, which inflates box office totals due to increased ticket prices, that means that U.S. audiences might finally be growing weary of this overstretched movie series.
Or, maybe it was Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley all this time who were bringing in the big bucks. I doubt that, though.
Coming in second this weekend was "Bridesmaids," which held exceptionally well in its second weekend thanks to excellent reviews and word-of-mouth. "Bridesmaids" fell only 21% to settle at $21.1 million, bringing its cumulative total to nearly $60 million.
That strong second weekend for "Bridesmaids" was enough to topple the mighty "Thor," which fell to $15.5 million in its third weekend for a total of about $145 million domestically. Also dropping about 50% in sales was "Fast Five," which placed fourth with $10.2 million.
In fifth place was the animated "Rio," which made a respectable $4.7 million in its sixth weekend in theaters, bringing its domestic total to $131.6 million.
With its soft domestic opening and lacking reviews (and sure hits like "The Hangover: Part 2" and "Kung Fu Panda 2" out next weekend), it will be interesting to see how sharply "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" drops in its second weekend.
- "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" - $90.1 million
- "Bridesmaids" - $21.1 million
- "Thor" - $15.5 million
- "Fast Five" - $10.2 million
- "Rio" - $4.7 million