Pirates Sail to Top Spot Again

Like Spiderman 3, Pirates: At Worlds End will probably make about 300 million when it's finally done. Then there's Hostel Part II, which may or may not be number one, but will, of course, have a big opening. Then Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Ratatouille, Transformers, and so. Even if those movies don't make number one, they'll still probably make a lot of money each.

I don't think Pirates will come close to spider mans final numbers or even shreks numbers...this is a movie that calls for one maybe two viewings as apposed to spider man viewings of two to three times and of course Shrek is bringing in all the different ages and is half the time of Pirates so there are more showings...Either way, I don't see Pirates bringing in the huge numbers spidey did...

I'm really glad that "Pirates" was number one
again! Many critics have panned the top
three blockbusters so far this summer, decrying the onslaught of sequels and lamenting the "lack of originality." Then, these same critics praise "Knocked Up" as if it
is some sort of bold, new concept. I find this
to be particularly ironic given that (and I will
admit I haven't seen "Knocked Up") the movie seems to resemble others in a long line of
romantic comedies in the same vain as "Fools Rush In." Perhaps, there's something in the cast and execution. Perhaps. . .

I, personally, don't have any problems with sequals or remakes. I saw POTC 3 on Friday and I thought it was the worst of the three. It was way too long and the plot was incredibly convaluted. Half of the time, I didn't even know what was going on or why. I must admit, I really didn't care much for the first one. I did really enjoy the second one. I was disappointed by the third, I think I liked Spiderman 3 better despite its faults.

The thing Knocked Up has going for it is the cast and Judd Apatow. The man has the Midas touch. Virgin, Freaks and Geeks, Undelcared, and Larry Sanders Show. He also was involved with Talladega Nights and Anchorman. I've loved just about everything he's done.

Knocked Up was great. It was not, however, as funny as Virgin, IMO. I think it was a better movie, though, as this could actually be real life (it is still very funny, mind you). The characters are more realistic (well, maybe not Ben's buddies) and so are the relationships. That's what separates Apatow's work from the rest. It's funny, intelligent, and people can actually relate to the characters, even if they've never been in the same situation.

As for PotC, it looks like I will be missing it once again. I had no desire to fight the crowds during the first week. Knocked Up was higher on my list this weekend. Oceans 13 takes precedence next weekend. I guess I'll have to squeeze it in sometime before Die Hard 4 comes out in 3 weeks.

I remember Katherine Heigel from Roswell. I don't watch Grey's Anatomy because I got tired of medical dramas after the umpteenth season of ER and didn't want to go into another one. I have to admit I didn't see The 40 Year Old Virgin so I wasn't going to run out and see Knocked Up. I'm not surprised by the strong numbers for it. I am not a big fan of romantic comedies because they tend to be overly contrived, especially in recent years.

I agree that sequels get a bad rap. They have been for years so I ignore the critics when they complain about them. I say ":bring them on." Next week, I plan to hang ten with Surf's Up to see if my prediction that it would finish in the top ten was correct.

Pirates seems to have taken a notch down on the money intake scale ... I am betting by the next week, or even the one after that it will lose its number one status .... mind you being number 1 for 4 weeks is nothing to raise your nose at, it is a very respectable amount of time to spend on a number one slot, but “at worlds end” will not last near as long as “dead man's chest” for the simple reason of competition.

to my recollection, “dead mans chest” didn’t have NEARLY as many competitors as “at worlds end” does. And for the record, Knocked Up may not have been as hilarious as Virgin was but it was a damn good film.

I think at the very least Pirates 3 has lost its shot of being the top movie of the summer. It's at $216M after its second weekend, while Spidey 3 was at $240M after its second weekend. And, as pointed out, there's going to be three releases next weekend which could significantly chip away at Pirate's box office. Opening Spidey 3 the first weekend in May before competition kicked in worked for Spidey 3 just as it worked for Spidey 1.

Pirates will probably not be at the top of the box office next weekend. The first two Ocean's movies each opened to about $38-39M. Surf's Up may open to about the same amount (pulling audience more from Shrek than Pirates). With Pirates' box office headed down, they'll likley push Pirates to third place next weekend. Hostel 2 may open to $10M, given the R-rating and the blockbuster competition - maybe less if horror audiences have grown tired of torture movies.

Well, looks like I was wrong on two counts at this point -

Spidey is most likely not going to make $350 m, let alone the M (more) I hedged.

Pirates will definitely make the L (less) than $450 m, but the 62% drop hurts it too much. With legs, which I think it has better than Spidey did, it could still be number 1 of the summer - I think it still has a good chance of beating Spidey domestically - but it's not going to crack $400 m - it isn't even likely to go above $350 at this point. It has stronger competition coming up, but I think the rewatchability in a month will be stronger than Spidey 3 - personal opinion based on the stronger fan ratings of Pirates than of Spidey 3 (overall, from several sites including here, Movies.com, Box Office Mojo, etc.)

So I'm still siding with my order, but my Pirates estimate was much higher than I thought it would be (honestly, I hadn't considered the length of the movie into my estimations, and this is a mistake I will learn from) and my Spidey estimate was clearly not low enough.

I'm waiting for the 3rd and 4th weekend numbers for Pirates before I make my final call.

As for Knocked Up - not my thing at all. I agree that critics who argue that Spidey isn't original and yet clamor about another dating / pregnancy comedy - blech. It may be good (for its kind of film) but it is far more derivative than Spider-Man.
Spidey, however, is dead and buried. It had its shot and will now