$300 MILLION BOX OFFICE BOOTY? INDUSTRY BANKING ON `PIRATES' SALES.Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer Can Captain Jack Sparrow Jack Sparrow is a fictional character in the Pirates of the Caribbean universe. He was introduced in (2003) and appeared in the back-to-back sequels, (2006) and (2007), where he was portrayed by Johnny Depp. lead the movie industry to its first $300 million domestic hit of 2006? So far, it's been a mission impossible, with Tom Cruise's latest film not even cracking the $150 million mark, ``Poseidon'' causing a box office ripple instead of a tidal wave tidal wave, term properly applied to the crest of a tide as it moves around the earth. The wavelike upstream rush of water caused by the incoming tide in some locations is known as a tidal bore. , and the summer's biggest hits ``X-Men: The Last Stand'' and ``The Da Vinci da Vinci Surgery A surgical robot for performing certain surgeries–eg, mitral valve repair and laparoscopic procedures–eg, cholecystectomy and gastric ulcer repair. See Laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Surgical robot. Code'' managing to scratch their way just past $200 million before quickly losing steam. To the rescue comes ``Pirates of the Caribbean This article is about the franchise. For other, more specific uses, see Pirates of the Caribbean (disambiguation). For real pirates, see Piracy in the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest,'' sequel to the original ``Pirates'' film of three summers ago, which went on to gross $305.4 million and earn an Academy Award nomination for star Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II[1] (born June 9 1963) is an American actor. Biography Early life Depp was born in Owensboro, Kentucky, to John Christopher Depp Sr., a city engineer, and Betty Sue (Wells), a waitress. . ```Pirates' looks to be the only $300 million film of the summer,'' predicted Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. ``I think excitement for this film is through the roof right now.'' In addition to Depp, other stars of ``Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'' returning for the sequel -- and a third installment to be released next summer -- are Orlando Bloom Orlando Jonathan Blanchard Bloom[1] (born 13 January 1977) is an English actor. He had his break-through role in the early 2000s as the elf-prince Legolas in The Lord of the Rings[2] and blacksmith Will Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Keira Knightley. All three films are directed by Gore Verbinski, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and released by Walt Disney Studios The name Walt Disney Studios may refer to:
``The first one was so well-regarded by its audience and has grown in stature over the years,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic way. Brandon Gray started the site in August 1998 and claims to now receive over one million monthly visitors. . ``It seemed to provide everything that people want in a summer movie and the second movie seems to have those elements as well. The new one should at least open to record or near-record levels.'' Hollywood is counting on a $300 million hit to save face. The summer of 2005 was part of the longest box office slump in history, but even it had ``Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith'' to prevent a $300 million club shutout. ``There is such a tremendous fan base for this,'' said Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Distribution
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. is the motion picture and television feature distribution company owned by The Walt Disney Company. . ``It will be an exciting weekend.'' Viane declined to predict a specific opening weekend number for the film but said he is confident ``Pirates'' will surpass the $59 million opening achieved by ``Pearl Harbor'' in 2001 to give producer Bruckheimer the biggest opening of his career. Even rival studios are conceding that ``Pirates'' will bring Disney plenty of box office treasure this weekend and steal some of the audience for their films. Current No. 1 film ``Superman Returns'' earned $108 million in its first seven days, but ``Pirates'' could prove to be box office kryptonite for the Man of Steel, at least in the short term. ```Pirates' is going to be a big, big movie,'' admitted Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . ``But in the summer the box office expands with kids out of school, so we'll have a great opportunity to play on. Our exit (surveys) are very strong and (`Superman') is playing extremely well with families.'' The surprisingly strong box office results for ``The Devil Wears Prada,'' starring Meryl Streep, took distributor 20th Century Fox and the rest of the film industry by surprise. Fox is confident the film will hold its own even with ``Pirates'' in the marketplace. ``There's no question `Pirates' will hit everything but I gotta think it will hit `Prada' a little less than other titles,'' said Bruce Snyder, Fox's president of distribution. ``If we can survive this weekend, then I think we can coast from there.'' Some critics have not been kind in their reviews of ``Pirates,'' but with anticipation similar to that of the sequels to ``The Matrix,'' box office success should not be affected by critical arrows. ```Pirates' is just this summer adventure spectacular and it seems to be playing out like the Indiana Jones movies of the 1980s,'' said Pandya. ``It's got star power, it's got action and it's got humor. It plays out as the ultimate summer escapism es·cap·ism n. The tendency to escape from daily reality or routine by indulging in daydreaming, fantasy, or entertainment. .'' greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3758 CAPTION(S): photo, box Photo: (color) Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow in ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.'' Box: TOP DOMESTIC MOVIE EARNERS |
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