Pirates 2: Almost in the $1B mark

[Christine]

Pirates Close to Crossing the $1B Mark

Source: The Hollywood Reporter September 3, 2006

Walt Disney Pictures' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest added another $11.8 million from 6,681 screens in 49 territories overseas this weekend to push its massive international total to $579.1 million, and to $991.9 million worldwide.

"Dead Man's Chest" has surpassed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone ($976.5 million) and climbed to the third spot on the all-time worldwide blockbuster list.

Buena Vista International predicts that the sequel will cross the $1 billion mark in global ticket sales by next weekend. The movie will join 1997's Titanic ($1.85 billion) and 2003's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.12 billion) as the only three films in industry history to break the $1 billion box office barrier.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, the third installment, hits theaters on May 25, 2007.

[Christine]

UPDATE!

Pirates Hits the $1 Billion Mark!

Source: Variety September 7, 2006

Walt Disney Pictures' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest should join Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Thursday as the only movies ever released to top $1 billion in worldwide grosses.

The "Pirates" sequel has been out of the domestic top 10 for the past two weekends, but still managed to bring in $4.9 million during the Labor Day weekend to lift the North American total past $414 million -- the sixth-highest on the all-time list.

It is mainly recent foreign business that's pushed "Dead Man's Chest" over the 10-figure mark. The film has remained dominant internationally with a nine-weekend winning streak and, as of Tuesday, had earned around $583 million overseas.

The top foreign markets have been the U.K. at $94 million and Japan with $78 million. "Chest" should add another significant chunk of business from Italy, where the final opening is set for Sept. 15.

There's no chance for "Dead Man's Chest" to catch Titanic, which stands at $1.83 billion, and it would need another $130 million to overtake "The Return of the King" at $1.13 billion.

The third installment, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, hits theaters on May 25, 2007.

[Caraccioli]

What is it about Titanic? I remember all the Star Wars fans were hopping mad when it was out because it had surpassed one or other of the Star Wars movies in terms of box office with no sign of letting up.

(I wonder what the top grossing movie list looks like adjusted for inflation these days?)

[Caraccioli]

Good ol' Google:

http://www.the-movie-times.com/thrsdir/all...v?adjusted+ByAG

Dead Man's Chest is number 44. Titanic is 6. Star Wars is 2. And, of course, Gone With the Wind is still number 1. So the SW fans can take solace in that. (Curse of the Black Pearl didn't make the Top 50 list.)

[Christine]

http://www.imdb.com/Top/

Internet Movie Database lists the top movies. All time movies in the US, all time movies internationally and then all time movies world wide.

[Caraccioli]

http://www.imdb.com/Top/

Internet Movie Database lists the top movies. All time movies in the US, all time movies internationally and then all time movies world wide.

Huh. I've never seen that page at IMDb before. Useful, that.

Still, it compares apples to oranges. When Gone With the Wind was in theatres, the ticket price was probably well under $1. When Star Wars was out, I think it was $3 or $4 (maybe) and today it's north of $8.

To understand the true popularity of a movie, you have to try to compare apples to apples. One reasonable way to do that is to adjust the Box Office take for inflation. That method has its warts, but it's much closer than just comparing the raw numbers.