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Around-the-World Brief: 'Pirates' Sails to New Overseas Record
by Ray Subers
May 22, 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides off-set its domestic franchise dip with an unprecedented estimated $256.3 million foreign debut. That topped Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as the highest-grossing start ever overseas, and it was also up 20 percent from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End's $216 million.
Further illustrating their rapid growth and increased importance to the foreign marketplace, Russia and China were Pirates's top territories with $28.6 million and $20 million, respectively. On Stranger Tides is already the top Pirates movie ever in China, and it's just a day or two away from reaching that mark in Russia as well.
The movie also had strong launches throughout the rest of Europe and Asia, and set industry records in Latin America, the Middle East, Norway, Turkey and Ukraine. Key territories included the United Kingdom ($19.5 million), Germany ($19.4 million), Japan ($18.2 million), France ($14.8 million), South Korea ($12 million), Italy ($11.5 million), Australia ($10.3 million), Spain ($10 million), Mexico ($9.8 million) and Brazil ($6.1 million).
Including its $90.1 million domestic take, On Stranger Tides registered a $346.4 million worldwide start. That ranked slightly ahead of At World's End but behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($381.6 million) among worldwide launches.
The big question now is whether On Stranger Tides can surpass At World's End's $654 million overseas total. It's obviously off to a strong start, though it will likely fade fast over the coming weeks against stiff competition from The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2 and X-Men: First Class.
In a distant second, Fast Five took a 57 percent dive but continued its impressive foreign run with an estimated $25 million. That brought its total to $320 million, passing Rio as 2011's top movie overseas (a title which should belong to Pirates by Friday or Saturday). Worldwide, it became the year's first movie to cross the $500 million worldwide mark.
Thor lost most of its 3D screens to Pirates and, in turn, lost most of its audience: the God of Thunder plummeted 70 percent to an estimated $9 million for a foreign total of $247 million. With its Japanese debut still on the horizon, Thor should easily out-gross the first Iron Man's $266 million, though reaching $300 million seems like a stretch.
Other Notables - Weekend Gross - Gross-to-Date
Water for Elephants - $5.3 - $45.4
Rio - $5.3 - $313.7
Priest - $4.6 - $37.6
Black Swan - $2.2 - $203.5
Source Code - $2.2 - $57.8
The Tree of Life - $1.8 - $2.4
by Ray Subers
May 22, 2011
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides off-set its domestic franchise dip with an unprecedented estimated $256.3 million foreign debut. That topped Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince as the highest-grossing start ever overseas, and it was also up 20 percent from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End's $216 million.
Further illustrating their rapid growth and increased importance to the foreign marketplace, Russia and China were Pirates's top territories with $28.6 million and $20 million, respectively. On Stranger Tides is already the top Pirates movie ever in China, and it's just a day or two away from reaching that mark in Russia as well.
The movie also had strong launches throughout the rest of Europe and Asia, and set industry records in Latin America, the Middle East, Norway, Turkey and Ukraine. Key territories included the United Kingdom ($19.5 million), Germany ($19.4 million), Japan ($18.2 million), France ($14.8 million), South Korea ($12 million), Italy ($11.5 million), Australia ($10.3 million), Spain ($10 million), Mexico ($9.8 million) and Brazil ($6.1 million).
Including its $90.1 million domestic take, On Stranger Tides registered a $346.4 million worldwide start. That ranked slightly ahead of At World's End but behind Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ($394 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($381.6 million) among worldwide launches.
The big question now is whether On Stranger Tides can surpass At World's End's $654 million overseas total. It's obviously off to a strong start, though it will likely fade fast over the coming weeks against stiff competition from The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2 and X-Men: First Class.
In a distant second, Fast Five took a 57 percent dive but continued its impressive foreign run with an estimated $25 million. That brought its total to $320 million, passing Rio as 2011's top movie overseas (a title which should belong to Pirates by Friday or Saturday). Worldwide, it became the year's first movie to cross the $500 million worldwide mark.
Thor lost most of its 3D screens to Pirates and, in turn, lost most of its audience: the God of Thunder plummeted 70 percent to an estimated $9 million for a foreign total of $247 million. With its Japanese debut still on the horizon, Thor should easily out-gross the first Iron Man's $266 million, though reaching $300 million seems like a stretch.
Other Notables - Weekend Gross - Gross-to-Date
Water for Elephants - $5.3 - $45.4
Rio - $5.3 - $313.7
Priest - $4.6 - $37.6
Black Swan - $2.2 - $203.5
Source Code - $2.2 - $57.8
The Tree of Life - $1.8 - $2.4