Pirates Run Off With Memorial Day Box Office!
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End hauled in $142.1 million at the box office, sailing at full speed as a front runner for the best Memorial Day Weekend debuts. The film beat out last year’s Memorial Day weekend record for X-Men: The Last Stand. However, Disney’s third Pirates film fell short of breaking Spider-Man 3’s record of $151 million for the best three-day opening weekend in movie history, according to studio estimates Monday.
At World’s End picks off right where Dead Man’s Chest left off, with Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) stuck at Davey Jones’s locker waiting for rescue from his old friends William Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Sparks (Keira Knightly). The trio embark on an riviting new adventure, which will ultimately force them to save the pirate world from extinction.
Chuck Viane, Disney’s head of distribution, admitted World’s End exceeded the studio’s expectations, sighting the film’s length as a weakness in gaining box office numbers. The film ran for almost three hours, about 15 minutes longer that its predecessor Dad Man’s Chest,” and box office champion Spider-Man 3.
Also, Vaine believes that World’s End had more competitors in the box office this time around, running against Spider-Man 3 and Shrek The Third.
“This is probably the most competitive Memorial weekend ever if not one of the most competitive weekends all time. It speaks volumes for how well we did,” said Mr. Vaine. “Obviously, we fell short of the three-day record of Spidey. Everything’s really obvious and really good.”
