Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (Reviews, etc.)

[Pluto Region1]

For those interested in the numbers the bottom line for Disney, while searching for info on the coming lay-offs announced in Variety, I stumbled upon this interesting bit of info:

Posted at <a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business ... s">Orlando Sentinel Bloomberg News</a>

" 'Pirates' box-office success fills Disney's sails on Wall Street
Michael White
Bloomberg News

July 11, 2006

Walt Disney Co. shares rose after the second installment of Pirates of the Caribbean broke box-office records in its debut over the weekend.

The stock rose 9 cents to close at $29.92 on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of Disney, the No. 2 U.S. media company, have climbed 25 percent this year.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the sequel to the 2003 hit, had $135.6 million in ticket sales, breaking opening-day, two-day and weekend records.

Pirates, starring Johnny Depp as Capt. Jack Sparrow, topped the $114.8 million debut in 2002 of Sony Corp.'s Spider-Man, according to film-tracker Exhibitor Relations Co.

"We see the opening of Pirates II as just one of several catalysts" for the stock, said Anthony Noto, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., in a note to investors. Noto rates the shares a "buy" and said they may surpass his six-month price target of $34 each.

The Friday opening of $55.8 million for Pirates is the highest single-day gross of any film, surpassing Star Wars: Episode III, Revenge of the Sith which had an opening-day gross of $50 million in May 2005. Pirates is also the first movie to surpass $100 million in two days, making $100.2 million.

The sales helped give Hollywood its eighth consecutive weekend of improved box-office revenue as studios try to stay ahead of last year's slump.

Disney already is filming a third Pirates movie and is in discussions with Depp for a fourth, Disney Studios Chairman Richard Cook said earlier this month.

"I believe we have a comet on our hands," said Chuck Viane, president of distribution at Disney's Buena Vista Pictures. "It's been great seeing people coming to the theaters dressed as pirates, laughing and enjoying themselves."

Pirates cost about $250 million to make and $150 million to market, according to Noto.

Boxofficeguru.com Chief Executive Officer Gitesh Pandya said he expects Pirates to make as much as $350 million in U.S. box-office sales and Cars, from Disney's Pixar unit, to make as much as $240 million. That could add 3 cents a share to profit in 2007, Noto said.

Moviegoers weren't deterred by mixed reviews of the film, in which Depp's character tries to avoid an eternity of servitude to a tentacle-faced Davy Jones.

The weekend sales will give Disney the two biggest films during the summer for the first time since 2003 when Disney had Finding Nemo, which grossed $339 million, and the first Pirates movie, which grossed $305 million, Pandya said.

Cars has taken in $205 million since opening five weekends ago."


Now I've seen so many different figures quoted for what the film actually grossed this weekend from $130M to $132M (which seemed to be the favorite figure on Monday) to $134 and $136 at some websites. sheesh - why can't we get a definite figure?

NOTE: The article mentions they are talking to Depp about POTC IV!

[Pluto Region1]

Some photos from attending the POTC screening at El Capitan on premiere weekend.

Our pirate reenactment group (The Port Royal Privateers) have had group tickets for months for this screening. Since we are a pirate group, needless to say, this movie release has been highly anticipated. Our tickets were for the 8:30pm screening on Saturday night. There must have been about 50 of us and the group consisted of members and friends of members. We ate dinner first at Hamburger Hamlet (which is 2 doors down from El Capitan):




Unlike at prior events I've attended for UD, they had the line for the movie start in the side alley. Here is a long shot of the line of people waiting to get in. The line stretched to the rear alley. Note the pirate guy on stilts - he was part of the Disney-hired entertainment. In the foreground of this line (lower left) is our group. To the right is (the gal with the outstretched arms) is "Bella Donna" who got the tickets and planned the evening for our group.




Here is another picture of our group standing in the line. This is a subgroup called "New Providence" which is a singing group. We waited about an hour to get in, but the time went fast since the group sang and provided additional entertainment. (yes, they sang the POTC theme):




Inside El Capitan Theater they had special displays set up; alot of nautical type decor and a Captain Jack Reenactor was there to take photos with guests! Here is a picture of one of my pirate friends from our group, Liberte Sparrow, posing with Captain Jack. She is the biggest Captain Jack fan you will ever meet and even has a personalized license plate on her car that says, (what else) "captjack".




Here is a picture of Will Turner's costume that was on display in the lobby:



The balconies in the El Capitan were decked out with a pirate display but that photo didn't come out so good. Hope you enjoyed (or at least didn't mind! ) the photos.

[MadonnasManOne]

Thank you for sharing, Pluto Region 1! That is so awesome, that your group got together, like that, and really made an event of it. How fun! I would LOVE to have been there. It's so great that these films have brought people together, like this. It's a pirates life for ye!

[Pluto Region1]

Thank you for sharing, Pluto Region 1! That is so awesome, that your group got together, like that, and really made an event of it. How fun! I would LOVE to have been there. It's so great that these films have brought people together, like this. It's a pirates life for ye!

Thanks for the kind feedback. It was really fun but boy was it hot that day! We were dying in those costumes.

[kbehm29]

I went to the AMC Theatres and they didn't show those short cartoons from Walt Disney but they do show trailers of Spider-Man 3, Snakes on Plane, Transformers, Invinible and some other movies.

I go to the AMC movie theatre in Milwaukee - and I didn't get the Spidey 3 trailer with Superman Returns, nor did I get the Transformers trailer with POTC. I was really bummed out - if I go see these movies again, I will definitely go to Marcus instead.

[crunkcourt]

POTC: DMC brought in $18.1 million Monday breaking yet another record: the most made on a non-holiday Monday. The previous record holder was "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith".

[crunkcourt]

Just found another record that Pirates set: most brought in on a Tuesday. POTC brought in $15.7 million surpassing The Omen on it's opening day. Go Pirates!

[joplin4]

The film was the greatest thing put out by Disney since Pirates #1. It will definitely be hailed as the greatest film of 2006 hands down.

I loved the film. Hey! Do you smell that? I could swear I smell someone coming. I think his name is...

OSCAR!!!!!

[Edge]

So it's pretty safe to say that the movie is going to pass $200 million in its first two weeks.

Though the way movie ticket prices keeping going up, the first $200 million opening weekend isn't that far off.

[MadonnasManOne]

So it's pretty safe to say that the movie is going to pass $200 million in its first two weeks.

It is already close to doing that, in 7 days. BoxOfficeMojo.com has posted the first week totals, and breaking yet another record (Opening Week Totals), Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest has pulled in $196,019,502.00, beating out Spider-Man 2, which had an Opening Week Total of $192,085,360.00.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weeks.htm

This movie is a BEAST at the Box Office.

I'm finally going to get to see it, on Monday! I can't wait!!!

[MadonnasManOne]

This is very cool, and funny, at the same time. Defamer.com has obtained an E-mail that Bob Iger sent to employees of Disney, praising the success of Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest and Cars. Defamer.com notes that he spells Keira Knightley's name incorrectly.

http://www.defamer.com/hollywood/disney ... 186537.php

"From: Iger, Robert [mailto: xxx@disney.com] Sent: Mon 7/10/2006 9:06 AM To: Subject: 7/10/2006 - Pirates

I try to send these when we have legitimate news to convey, or when I feel it's important to communicate something special or important, and this is one of those occasions. Actually, it's about as perfect an occasion as I can think of.

This past weekend, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" broke the U.S. box office record for a non-holiday opening weekend, bringing in an incredible $135.7 million over its three-day opening.

This is a great achievement for the Studio and a wonderful moment for the company, which we should all savor. I want to congratulate Dick Cook and everyone at The Walt Disney Studios. They put their hearts, souls and creative guts into this, and the results are simply fantastic. Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Nightly all deserve our thanks and praise too. Everyone involved in this project has created a valuable and enduring franchise for the company, something that will be enjoyed by generations of people for generations.

Consider these statistics:

· Highest three-day opening in U.S. box office history (passing "Spider-Man's" $114.8 million back in May of 2002).

· First film in box office history to pass $100 million in only two days.

· Friday's U.S. opening gross of $55.5 million is the highest single day gross in box office history (passing "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of Sith's" $50.0 million last year).

· Internationally, "Pirates" opened in seven territories, which represent 24% of all overseas markets, grossing $46.6 million, which is an all-time record in those combined regions (passing the previous record of $45.6 million by "Harry Potter 4," which went on to earn more than a half-billion dollar overseas).

· "Pirates" is the 51st film in Buena Vista history to pass $100 million at the U.S. box office, the most of any studio.

I also want to point out we reached another milestone this weekend, with Disney/Pixar's "Cars" passing the $200 million mark. This will be the 12th film in our company's history to reach this remarkable level of success and will tie Disney with Fox at 12 as co-industry leaders (at least until "Pirates" gets there!).

The success of these films speaks to our company's fervent commitment to creating universally appealing entertainment for consumers to enjoy around the world.

All of this is quite an achievement thanks to a truly global effort, in which we can all take great pride.

Bob"

[MadonnasManOne]

BoxOfficeMojo.com has posted weekend estimates. Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest is estimated to have brought in $62,186,000.00 over the Friday-Sunday period, which represents a 54.2% drop from the previous weekend. If estimates hold, this will bring it's 10-day domestic total to $258,205,000.00. Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest now claims the #1 spot of the year among all films, followed by X-Men: The Last Stand at #2, and Cars at #3!

[Edge]

Well barring a major drop, it'll beat the first Pirates.

Only a question of how far it'll go.

[MadonnasManOne]

I finally got to see it, this evening! I went with several friends, and we had a blast.

First, the new logo. It's very striking, and is a good fit for Disney. I will have to see it, a few more times, to really decide if I truly like it, or if it's just okay (in my opinion).

Second, the movie. Much better than the first film. I really enjoyed it, and I don't understand the people that claim the humor of the first film is gone. If anything, I think the humor is that much greater. I really think the pace of this film kept it from feeling too long. The special effects were crazy, and overall, very convincing. That Davy Jones is one creepy fellow! The only part of the film that I didn't enjoy, was the parts with Tia Dalma. For the life of me, I couldn't understand a word she was saying. That is one of my biggest gripes about any film. At least make the characters where people can understand what they are saying, and it was hard to understand what she was saying. I'm not the only one who had problems understanding what she said. Overall, this film is my favorite of the two released, and definitely gets me excited for the third one. I LOVED the short little clip at the end of the credits! Very funny!

[Edge]

Enunciation seems to be a big problem in a lot of movies nowadays, even the good ones.

I understand sound equipment has come a long way, but it can still be annoying to try and translate what people are saying. LOTR did this at some parts, I had the volume cranked to the max when watching Harry Potter the other day and even pirates drifted into that a little.

Personally I understood everything Tia was saying, but I can really see where people would have a hard time.

I just don't know why studios don't catch that before the movie comes out.

[Mr. Toad]

Pirates reign at the box office is over. Put up a hell of a fight though against a new release.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/ ... index.html

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Pirates reign at the box office is over.

Hey at least it has passed Nemo at the box office giving Disney a MUCH better name.

[MB]

Hi, I'm new here. I saw the new movie. I thought it was good but not like the first. Yes, a shame that it is no longer number 1

[Pluto Region1]

Hi, I'm new here. I saw the new movie. I thought it was good but not like the first. Yes, a shame that it is no longer number 1

Nice to have you on board. Welcome!

Personally I understood everything Tia was saying, but I can really see where people would have a hard time.

I had to see it the 2nd time to get everything she is saying and think how difficult it might be for people who English isn't even their primary language trying to figure it out.... and if you miss what she says you sort of miss the plot because she's key to everything they do and what things mean in the film. But I found her character and accent charming; just wish she was a little easier to understand

Oh and the film is still playing at my local theater which is the longest I've seen any movie (in recent memory, since I've been watching) stay there that long!

[NarniaDis]

Finally saw it this week. What a great movie, as good but not better than the original. MPFs are that the 1st was something almost brand new, where as this falls into the not so new "sequal" catagory.