No one on the planet can EVER claim that making over $100 million at the boxoffice on your opening weekend is any sort of “failure” by any stretch of the imagination. Having said that… you KNOW the folks at Disney were eyeing that new Spider-Man 3 record over over $150 million. A lot of people expected Pirates 3 to surpass that number… well… we were wrong. By a LOT.
Pirates 3 came in with $112 million for the official opening weekend. That’s amazing business. However… it’s about a full $40 million short of where Spider-Man 3 came in. So the question is why did Pirates 3 fall sooooo far short of Spider-Man 3? Well… I’d like to suggest 3 contributing factors:
1) It’s the long weekend in the US – A lot of people are doing things other than sitting in the movie theaters
2) The longer length of Pirates 3 may have turned some people off.
3) MOST IMPORTANTLY… Spider-Man 2 was a GREAT movie that built up the excitement for Spider-Man 3 even more. Pirates 2 on the other hands was a let down for many people, and lessened any anticipation for a part 3. This, I submit to you, is the primary reason for the drop off in its opening weekend.
As a matter of fact, not only did Pirates 3 fail to set the new opening weekend box office record… but it could only manage 5th place… $20 million behind Pirates 2. I was one of the people who was let down by Pirates 2… but I also still thought not enough people realized that it was only an “ok” movie at best… and that Pirates 3 would still take over the opening weekend crown. I guess more people realized than I thought.
Having said all that… still keep in mind that Pirates 3 made over $100 fricking million on its opening weekend. That my friends is a success by any definition. Just not anywhere near as big a success as many were expecting… and Disney was hoping for.
what prevented me from going out to see it was the horrible result of Spiderman 3. sounds crazy, but it took away my trust for good sequels. i even regretted seeing it. so, i choose to hang back and find out reviews for pirates 3 before investing an experience in it. i think i’ll still go see it though.
I too have decided to skip the first 3 films that end in 3 (or “the third”) this year…I’m not going to bother. I live in an area with 4 10+ screen multiplexes and it is just a scary place to check the listing s and see that there are not many more than 5 films playing at any of these. oi!
I’ll likely be catching Bourne 3 and Oceans 13 though. Neither of them being overly reliant on CGI trickery and such.
Well said, John. Considering the God-awful reviews and word-of-mouth PIRATES 3 has been getting, I’m starting to wonder if it’s even going to stay at #1 next weekend (i.e. KNOCKED UP has been getting nothing-less than glowing reviews and word-of-mouth!)
It’s an uphill battle for AT WORLD’S END, and unlike DEAD MAN CHEST (which was the last ‘event’ blockbuster to be released last summer after SUPERMAN RETURNS), there are plenty of big films coming out that will give PIRATES a run for their money.
Regardless, don’t expect PIRATES 3 to gross $1 billion like its previous installment. At this point, SPIDER-MAN 3 will probably be the 4th film to break that barrier…
I still haven’t seen any of the big 3 movies this month. I really wanted to see Spidey 3, but after terrible reviews my interest just fell right off. As for Pirates, after the letdown that was Pirates 2, I’m just not that in a hurry to see it. I probably will, but after the crowds have disappeared a bit.
Was going to try to do a movie with a friend yesterday, but when we got to the theatre and saw the crowds, we canned that idea. Walked around a bookstore and went and got some pizza instead. After some of these bad reviews, I think our money was better spent.
Well jojo, considering campea is right 95% of the time, I doubt he’ll lose any sleep over this. It’s a huge sign of how right you usually are when little people jump up and yell “hahahahaha” when you get caught being wrong once.
With that said, I also didn’t think Pirates would set the record again. I thought it would be Shrek 3. Oh God Spiderman 3 was horrible. There is nothing left to save the summer other than Transformers.
I’m glad it didn’t get the record back, it didn’t deserve it.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA
I had challenged you john campea sometime ago that potc3 won’t break the record.
And I also said you have to admit that you don’t know how to predict boxoffice OW of a movie.
You were also supposed to mention my name and say that I was 100% right and i won the challenge while you lost.
But alas you are probably hiding in shame where you were born from (This is the kind of joke doug nagy would make).
Transformers will also suck donkey balls and will be making nowhere the amount of money you would like it to make.
ASTA LA VISTA BABY!!
I’d also have to say it was the length, at the theatres it costs to same to watch a 3 hour movie or a 90 minute movie. A 3 hour movie will have a lot less screenings than a 2 hour movie so its most likely the reason why it didnt’ make as much as spiderman. Lets not forget the movie itself was 3 hours, dont forget to add 15 minutes for trailer + 10 minutes for non-movie related commercials.
Hey Nord.
Bug was one of the more odd films out in the theatres (like nothing the American mainstream horror genre in the past few years for sure). Even though I dug the movie a lot for it’s ambition (and surprisingly good acting), I had to pity the folks who walk into the film due to Pirates3 being sold out! oi!
On another note with Bug, I could just feel the movie losing 90% of its audience. Several walk-outs, many people audibly complaining. Me, it was a strange type of heaven. In its own way, Bug is just rivetting in a bat-shit crazy sort of way! Nice.
I agree John – point 3 is the main reason P3 did less business the S3 or P2.
I think it actually had to do with Spiderman 3 directly. I heard the reviews were bad for Spidey 3 but went anyways and was severely disappointment. So when I heard the reviews were bad for Pirates 3 well, I have yet to see it put it that way.
I did however see BUG and that was a wicked movie.
Nord
John, it had to do with the length, and length only.
Most, if not all screens had 3 showings a day only (and many of the smaller theatres only played it once on Friday!). Spiderman had 4 to 5 showings a day, and Shrek had 5 to 6 showings a day. This week (from Mon to Fri) most screens will play it only once a day!!
Anyone who thought it would break Spiderman’s 3-day record (or even come close) was a fool.
It will surpass Spiderman though in the long run. Although, I think Transfromers will kick all their asses (I’m no fan of the series etc. but after seeing the trailers…Wow!)