The legs were great because there were hundreds of people seeing the movie 10+ times.

And all those people are going to be back and trying to BREAK their records with this one.

Interesting comment above about being "Serenity'd". I don't think that applies here, as PotC has a FAR larger and FAR wider audience than Firefly/Serenity does/did. Serenity only had the fanboys; PotC has the fandom PLUS the general public.

EDIT: And yes, Chow Yun Fat will be in PotC3. AND... there are going to be some really unholy alliance goin' on in that movie, too... Just you wait. It's gonna be GREAT!

Joy

That makes no sense. 50.6 million tickets were sold for Pirates of the Caribbean. Whether it sold all those tickets opening weekend or over the course of three months is irrelevant. 50.6 million tickets would have been sold no matter how big the opening weekend was, because someone wanted to see it.

Um...That's exactly what I said.

I misread.

I'm sick. Shut up.

Gotchya.

while it might dissapoint, i dont see how this can possibly do under 300 million without completely sucking.

No, they're not. This is what you don't understand: not everybody is like you. POTC's fandom generally doesn't border on the obsessive. Because you have a support group in Kansas City that worships the flick doesn't mean one exists everywhere else.



You're completely right, but POTC's fandom isn't so incredible it's going to shatter records on its own. The general audience is going to make up a good majority of the gross, and most of them don't see films more than once theatrically. POTC had legs because word-of-mouth was spectacular, not because a group of dedicated geeks spent upwards of $100 each to see it as many times as possible.

Star Trek: Nemesis had a very dedicated core group, too, but it bombed. Even if we say POTC has five times the amount of "dedicated supporters" as Star Trek, it's not going to make that much of a dent. Audience-pleasing adventure flicks live or die based on word of mouth.

a lot of people wanna see this.i played poker wiht my brother and his friends tonight and hes a senior in high school, and low and be hold one of his friends said "i cant wait for pirates 2".

I should point out, in case anybody reads my earlier post, that my "dedicated geeks" comment wasn't meant as an insult -- I consider myself a geek as well.

Actually, I don't have a "support group" here in KC. I really don't personally know that many Rumrunners, though many of my friends are part of the general public who likes the movie and a couple did see it more than once. Most of my PotC acquaintances spread 'cross the globe and from all different sorts of places.

We're a quiet fandom ('cept online), but our numbers are far larger than people think.

Oh, and we've actually got PotC Interactive screenings (a la Rocky Horror) going on all across the country... and they often sell out.

We actually once had a "movie on the lawn" showing of PotC in summer '04 at our local big art museum. It's expansive lawn was filled to the max with people (and there were several who came dressed up to various degrees). It was part of a series of movies being shown that summer.... Needless to say, it was the only movie that people actually turned out for. It ended up being the museum's first and last season of their "movie on the lawn" program.

Don't underestimate us.

Joy

I think people are hugely discounting what legs can do. If POTC opened small, it wouldn't have had the support of theaters to stay in as many theaters as it did for so long, and wouldn't have gotten the publicity that it did to pull in more people. Its equivalent to saying, "if everyone knew Titanic was going to be great, and alot saw it opening weekend, its legs wouldn't have been as great. So Titanic does $150 m opening weekend, and has a 4.0 multiplier instead. I don't think so. Certain movies build big grosses based on the publicity they get through excellent wom. For instance, I'm sure there were people who thought, I'm going to see Titanic after hearing it was #1 for its 10th,11th, 12th etc weekend. Tickets sold over time through wom help the picture overall in the end, as it tends to overinflate holiday weekends like Labor Day, etc. as well as promotes buzz that continues the cycle. Buzz brings people in, buzz increases, more people see it, buzz increases, etc. Legs promote buzz. For instance, for the Sixth Sense, its under 10% drops and 5 weekends at #1 for sure brought in publicity to bring in more people. If it had a big opening customary to summer and spend maybe 2 weekends at #1, it would not have been able to reach the same total it did through wom spreading out as it did. Totals WOULD be different, as legs are often a self-feeding cycle, that essentially pulls people in, which bring more buzz, which then pulls people in, etc.

Cult!

if pirates 2 is as well recieved as the first one, then this is the next big midnight screening franchise.

Oh totally. Even Charlie and the Chocolate Factory had midnight showings (and they were actually quite full)...

So, yeah, there's gonna be some major midnight showing business for PotC2.

Joy

Apparently, Pirates 3 is going to open on May 25, 2007. That's something I didn't expect. I figured it'd be a July release as well.

Yeah, me, too... And honestly, I hope they change it. I mean, Spider-Man 3 and Shrek 3 are opening in May; that's some pretty big competition.

Plus, as Harry Potter has proven, you don't mess with tradition (the lowest-grossing HP movie is the only one not released in November).

Of course, it's always possible it'll get moved later on, depending on if they run into any additional delays.

Joy

so itsnext years big memorial day.

good luck in shrek 3 second weekend....

Pirates seems to be winning in this poll. It would of been better if its X-3 vs Superman Returns to see how the results end up being

a.)X-3 doesnt have to compete with a sequel to a tentpole that made over 300 million on its second weekend.
b.)It at least has a full trailer and even the teaser trailer showed more footage than Superman Returns did
c.)Superman is a very unpredictable movie because of the 20 year hiatus. Even the first movie wasnt in the league of Star Wars or Indy Jones

The breakup and Nacho Libre the following week? Those two will most likely open under 30 million anyhow and they are probably built on legs. It wont hurt X-3 that much as POTC2 does to SR. So whats wrong with saying not having actual footage means that it wont be there in time to build anticipation. It also could mean that the studios have not been done with footage yet. Dont you find it questionable that Spiderman 3 has shown picture footage of Sandman and on the set of how the black costuming looks like the black Spiderman while the movie doesnt open till more than a year. Meanwhile all we get from the Superman pictures is some dude in a blue costume, a bald headed gayman and a high forehead princess. So far no pcitures yet that amazes anyone on this board. This is why I have been saying they are putting rush touches on the Superman FX which could hurt the movie. Do you think a movie that has spread its footage 4 months in advance doesnt benefit more than a movie that only shows footage less than 2 months till release?

I agree an X3 vs. SR poll would be more appropriate because they aren't competing, and they're both superhero movies, so if there is any decline of interest in superhero movies they're the ones that will suffer.

did you say superman is rushd???x3 just began production in late august...

Im sorry it seemed like the Superman movie was rushed to me from its head start in 1996 to stories about him dressing all in black and getting his own automobile like Batman
to production casting him as having a receeding hairline and him looking like the guy from the Valley Girl movies
to scripts of him dying and being reborn into a cyborg
all the way to scripts penned by the Jay & Silent Bob director only to be told by the producers that he needed a gay robot in the movie
to the year 2000 when JJ Abrahams wanted the movie to have martial arts ala Matrix Style and having Jimmy Olsen be gay and Lois Lane be black
to the casting of Josh Harnett and being directed by McG
to the casting of Bryan Singer(no sarcasm involved good choice)
but then we get the god awful casting where the stars are younger than Smallville
and all we got so far in march is a picture of a guy in a blue rubber suit

A marketing/merchandising update:

Hot Topic is already getting T-shirts, Claire's is getting various accessories, grocery stores are getting the cereal, gummy snacks, and just today, PotC2-marked Lunchables were discovered.

Disney Store already has some apparel and an official-tagged girls' Elizabeth Swann costume showed up on Ebay (showing that adults and kids alike will be able to dress up for the midnight showings).

The PotC2 trailer was on the Chronicles of Narnia DVD, which came out this Tuesday. Disney's "The Wild" comes out a week from today, and it seems the best movie with which to premiere a full-length theatrical trailer for PotC2.

Total Film Magazine has already had more than one PotC2 article, and a few other magazines (Empire, Variety, etc.) have done articles already as well.

Oh, and Scholastic apparently made a mistake, and several school book fairs across the country have been selling the junior novelization of Dead Man's Chest over the past few weeks. So several fans already have the book, and many have already broke down and read it (and given the story RAVE reviews).

Disney's doing a good job of slowly and steadily releasing stuff rather than one big push near the end; this should keep people from feeling like the movie is being pushed upon them.

Joy

"Best. Junior Novelization. Ever." - Comic Book Guy