May 28, 2007
Weekend Estimates
Domestic Market Share

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End dropped anchor with an estimated $143.2 million to plunder weekend movie going. The third installment of the popular franchise accounted for about 55% of the record Memorial holiday ticket sales.

The frame also saw a wan $4 million debut for the oft-delayed horror entry Bug and potent returns for several exclusive engagements including the Japanese anime Paprika and Italian import Golden Door.

The Pirate wave began Thursday evening with a $14 million taste of a lot more booty to come. Its four-day gross easily surpassed the prior benchmark of $122.8 million set a year ago by X-Men 2and with Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3 in support rewrote the record book for Memorial weekend box office.

Industry response was buoyant though there’s continuing concern that high profile movies could crowd out lesser known genre fare in the coming weeks. Pirates 3 – as with the other May behemoths – received largely tepid reviews that could translate into limited adult appeal. However, they certainly didn’t quell the avids and thanks to the versatility of multiplexes, its roughly three hour running time proved no obstacle to ringing up record grosses.

The picture also made a considerable onslaught internationally with openings in all major markets with the exceptions of China and India. Initial estimates of $245 million overseas boost the global box office to a record $400 million. Among the most conspicuous bows was a $26.6 launch in the U.K., $18.4 million in Korea, France delivering $17.7 million, Japan rendering $15.9 million to the war chest, Germany with $16.8 million and Russia adding $13.7 million to the coffers.

Domestic weekend lucre added up to just shy of $260 million for a tidy 13% increase for the comparative three-day portions of the span. It was also 8% improved from Memorial weekend 2006 when X-Men 2 debuted and the second weekend of The Da Vinci Code contributed $42.2 million.

Most titles took 50% plus hits including Shrek the Third and Spider-Man 3. The burn factor of seasonal tent poles has accelerated but their initial box offices have opened to higher numbers and only studio accountants know for sure the true balance once profit participants are added to the equation.

Bug figuratively got tossed into the lion’s den and made the tiniest of commercial flutters. The film was first exposed at last year’s Cannes fest and it remains a head scratcher as to why a more lucrative and earlier release date was not found for the picture.

Waitress and Away from Her have continued to mine the spare terrain for adult appeal movies with steady expansions. There was also quick response for the unexpectedly potent Once that added 18 playdates and generated a $21,150 theater average. It’s adding 10 markets next weekend.

Two Bollywood newcomers went head to head and generated comparable per screens. And while U.S. audiences favored Cheeni Kum, internationally Shootout at Lokhandwala proved to be the dominant movie. A quartet of other specialized imports generally fared well though one suspects Paprika from Japan could see sharp declines after the initial avids spiced up its debut. More encouraging is the Italian immigrant saga Golden Door – a 2006 Oscar submission – that’s already won raves and awards overseas.

by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates – May 25-28, 2007

International Grosses: To May 24, 2007

Domestic Market Share: To May 24, 2007

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