ROTTEN TOMATOES: "Pirates of the Caribbean" Sequel Loots Record-Breaking $55.5M on Friday

"Pirates of the Caribbean" Sequel Loots Record-Breaking $55.5M on Friday

by Senh Duong | July 08, 2006

It looks like this summer will come away with a mark in the record books, if estimates hold. "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," the sequel to 2003's surprise smash hit "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," grossed $55.5M on Friday, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. It's the biggest single-day gross ever, besting the $50M single-day debut of last year's "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."

The $55.5M take by "Dead Man's Chest" is more than what the original did in its entire weekend ($46.6M). "Curse of the Black Pearl," fueled by great reviews lauding Johnny Depp's performance, was leggy and went on to gross $305M domestically. "Dead Man's Chest" will likely surpass that number.

The highly-anticipated sequel didn't score with critics, however. It has a middling Tomatometer of 52%. Critics say the sequel lacks the humor and originality of the first film.

In "Dead Man's Chest," Johnny Depp is back as the scoundrel Jack Sparrow, with Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom along for the ride, this time aboard a craft containing the cephalopodan Davy Jones and his crew.

Sunday Update (According to Exibitor Relations):

Records Set by Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Highest 3-day opening ($132M) in box office history (passing “Spider-Man,” $114.8M, 5/3-5/02)
First film in box office history to pass $100M in only two days ($100.2M in 2 days)
Friday’s opening gross ($55.5M) is highest single-day gross in box office history (passing “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of Sith,” $50M, Thurs 5/19/05)
“Pirates” is the 51st film in Buena Vista history to pass $100M in gross, the most of any studio

Top 5 Openers of All Time

Spider-Man ($114.8M)
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (108.4M)
Shrek 2 ($108M)
X-Men: The Last Stand ($102.8M)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ($102.3M)

(I wonder where "Spider-Man 2" fits in. It did gross $115.8M Fri-Sun and $180M from Wed-Sun)

Related Items

Celeb:	Johnny Depp
	Keira Knightley
	Orlando Bloom
	Gore Verbinski
Movie:	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
	Spider-Man 2
	Spider-Man
	Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
	Shrek 2
	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
	X-Men: The Last Stand

(1-20 of 87 posts) | Reply

cgcbooks writes:
on Jul 08 2006 01:44 PM

Star Wars came out on a Thursday.

(Reply to this)

cgcbooks writes:
on Jul 08 2006 01:45 PM

Fuck Pirates.

(Reply to this)

cgcbooks writes:
on Jul 08 2006 01:46 PM

Johnny Depp sold out big time.

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synergyred writes:
on Jul 08 2006 02:10 PM

WoW! Go Pirates. I don't see why the critics are looking down on this one so much. No, it's NOT as good as the first one. YES some of the humor is a bit much and it does suffer from pacing problems early on but damn does it overcome those shortcomings and create a throughly entertaining movie. Barring Cars and Over the Hedge, I have found most of the movies released this summer to be either "blah" or "just okay" (including The DaVinci Code, X-men 3, The Break Up, Click, Nacho Libre, and Mission Impossible III. Yes I know a couple of these were technically spring releases but I SAW then in the summer) but Pirates managed to entertain me from start to finish.

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haelohm writes:
on Jul 08 2006 02:27 PM

[b]mmk[/b]
Star Wars opened on a thursday yes, but the report says OPENING day...Pirates 2 has the largest single day PERIOD. including opening day, single day, and of course friday. Im so happy this movie is doing sooo well.

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I Am Remote writes:
on Jul 08 2006 02:42 PM

Thats a big difference though. Weekday openings have to hold to different standards than weekend openings.

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Slatts66 writes:
on Jul 08 2006 02:50 PM

In reply to this comment (#839717)
i do agree with you on that. I definitly believe that had it opened on a friday star wars rots would have made around or over 60 mil in its first day. However, 55 is still impressive, and for now is the champion for single day grosses. (we shall wait and see for spider man 3 to come out)

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killbill82 writes:
on Jul 08 2006 03:16 PM

[b]cgcbooks......[/b]
get a life!

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TheIceGhost writes:
on Jul 08 2006 03:22 PM

[b]Technicality BS[/b]
This is retarded...okay, Ep III made 50mil the first day, a Thursday, and Pirates makes 55 on a Friday....so Pirates gets the biggest "opening" day ever, fine (although I gotta agree with the, "well if Ep III opened on a Friday it'd be a different story scenario").....yet how come Spiderman always gets the biggest 3 day ever when Ep III beat it? Yeah fine, it wasn't a "weekend" persay, but Ep's numbers beat Spidey in everything. Ep III had 124million its first 3 days (Thurs-Sat) and had 158million by that Sunday, while Spidey had only 83million Thursday to Saturday, and 114million by that Sunday...so if you do the math I assume Spidey eekes out without Ep. III/Spidey's Thursday gross, yet Ep III beats it in 3 day and total gross by the Sunday after they premiered (Thursday-Sunday), yet Spidey wins the title due to the day, a Friday-Sun instead of a Thurs-Sat. So Ep III has the better numbers the 1st 3 days and the end of the first weekend but it doesnt get noticed for it because of the day. Like I said, retarded...

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eye_see writes:
on Jul 08 2006 03:52 PM

In reply to this comment (#839720)
No, whats retarted is the fact we judge how good a film is by how much freaking mony it pulls in on the first three days. Dear lord, talk about pointless media hype for lack luster films.

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wakeofinsanity writes:
on Jul 08 2006 03:55 PM

I liked Dead Man's Chest. Not perfect, but a fun summer flick. Really enjoyable.

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Bane Of Anubis writes:
on Jul 08 2006 03:56 PM

[b]Fun movie[/b]
It's a fun movie -- a bit disjointed and illogical in places (particularly toward the end and everything involving KK's character), but it was a helluva lot of fun to watch (isn't that what counts) and it sets up the next one well.

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Slatts66 writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:03 PM

In reply to this comment (#839720)
i see your point, however from what i know spidey is credited with the biggest opening weekend ever, not the biggest three day opening. And since thur-sat. is not a weekend, ep.III cannot be credited with the biggest weekend opening. I think if you check some box office websites, (the only one i no of is box office mojo, however they dont have a biggest 3 day catagory they just have the biggest weekend one) they would credit spidey with the biggest weekend ever (which will soon be broken), and star wars III with the biggest 3 day opening. I just wonder what ep III would have made if it had infact opened up on a friday!

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ajmueller writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:12 PM

I still think box office numbers are crap...they should count tickets sold, not how much the movie made. Stupid inflation!

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jofosho333 writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:18 PM

I think its best not to compare the first with the second since the first was that good and its hard to make a sequel worthy of the first. Its very rare when the sequel is better than the first so give it its worth for being what it is, a very good movie. As for the gross...amazing. 135 million in 3 days. Geez i never tht that would happen for lke forever.

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curtis writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:25 PM

I wonder how did superman do. The theater was empty for that movie. Happy for POTC. After the low boxoffice for superman, i did not know how good POTC would do.

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South_park300 writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:40 PM

i still really enjoyed pirates, and i cant wait to see the second half.

i wish people would stop saying johnny depp sold out. what's your basis? he made something mainstream, that made money? im sorry, but he did that a long time ago. like, WAY long ago.

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selke99 writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:49 PM

[b]Gross Schmoss[/b]
It's crap looking at box office numbers now with the increase of ticket prices over the last couple years. I wonder how different grosses would look if they went by tickets sold. Depp's gotta be a rich mofo...he must be getting 20 million up front for this plus a back-end percentage. And they still have the third one to release!

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grapeantler writes:
on Jul 08 2006 04:57 PM

shut the hell up, johnny depp did not "sell out"

the moment you see him on every single talk show talking about getting special diet foods sent to his house is the day you could say that. Taking a entertaining role in a film that just happens to be a HUGE crowd pleaser therefore makes him a sell out?

52% is over half of the critics liking it, yet rottentomatoes still likes to take the stance that the majority of the critics hated it. Before they say that it "Didn't score with the critics" they should probably look at statistics.

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Sal_gal writes:
on Jul 08 2006 05:10 PM

In reply to this comment (#839721)
[b]I agree w/ Eye-See - boxoff is worthless[/b]
X3 opened at 45M and it hasn't crossed the $200M mark yet. It has to make at least $300M domestic and it's nowhere near that. And it doesn't mean the movie is a good movie, just that it got good hype.
The two best movies I saw this year: Inside Man and Water. Water made about $2M but it was one of the most engrossing movies of the year.

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