The next time the motion picture industry starts whining about how piracy is ruining their business and that the loss of sales because of copying is going to cause all the studios to go bankrupt, just pull out this little story and laugh.
A plunder licious Memorial Day weekend for pirate Jack Sparrow broke records domestically and worldwide — boosting the film industry’s growing consensus that this will be Hollywood’s biggest summer and year ever.
“We expect . . . to break $4 billion,” this summer, said Hollywood industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian, who predicted the entire year’s gross would exceed $10 billion, beating the all-time high of $9.54 billion in 2004. The strong financial figures, according to Dergarabedian and other observers, are testament to the power of sequels, which will number 14 this summer. Buena Vista’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” grossed $142 million in North America between Friday and yesterday, a four-day haul that beat out 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the previous Memorial Day weekend record holder at $122.9 million. And with returns for Thursday night’s “previews” factored in, “Pirates” enjoyed a bountiful $156 million.
On the international level, “Pirates,” featuring Johnny Depp as Sparrow, the popular sea captain, had even better news, with a worldwide tally of $245 million for Wednesday through yesterday.
The “Pirates” invasion was too much for “Shrek the Third,” only in its second week of release, which had to settle for a relatively ogre-starving $69 million. And though “Spider-Man 3” took in only $18 million, it pushed the Sony Pictures Entertainment movie’s domestic total to $307.6 million, making it the year’s movie to beat. (“Spider-Man 3” also enjoyed the biggest opening of the year, grossing $151 million on the May 4 weekend.)
These three hits — all three-quels and released within the same month — have virtually assured that 2007 will beat 2004’s summer record of $3.9 billion. And with such pre-summer hits as “Disturbia,” now at $75 million, and more eagerly anticipated sequels on the way, including “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” a watershed year is all but certain.
“We’ve never seen a summer with more than two $100 million openings,” said industry analyst Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations. “Now we’ve had three in one month.” [The Washington Post]
Is it just me, or is the movie business doing far better in the era of copying and internet piracy?
it’s just you. a couple of movies are driving the box office to record highs (thanks to super saturation and inflated ticket prices) but more and more films are being released to absolutely empty houses. we are reaching the end of an era in theater going and studios are becoming less and less likely to greenlight any production that doesn’t carry a $150 million budget or an under $5 million budget. the middle class of cinema is dying under the weight of these “mega-blockbusters” and more and more films will be put straight to dvd. we are less than a decade from only seeing films like “pirates of the caribbean” even released on the big screen.
This is an excellent observation and makes perfect sense… and is sadly terrifying at the same time.