Pirates Opening Weekend Guesses

[Disney Vault]

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hi...7/04/3597.aspx

This Jim Hill article made me want to start a post here with everyones predictions for the opening weekend guesses. So what do you think Pirates of the Caribbean will make opening weekend?

I say 87-93 million

[Barbossa]

I've already donated $21.00 towards that total!

[Vegitabeta]

I've donated somewhere around 20!

[bellefan]

A bunch of us here in upstate NY are going opening night so that's another $50 or $60 to the pot!

I'm guessing a good $80 million - its getting such great reviews and being hyped everywhere!

[Disney Vault]

It would be so cool for this movie to break the record but I can't see that happening but who knows. I will probably end up seeing this twice opening weekend.

[PapiBear]

I'm going to estimate between $55 and $70 million. I'd be surprised if it was higher than that.

[oregontraveler]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say $100 million+

[Disney Vault]

Well I can really see it making more than Superman easily. And Superman made over 70 million it's opening weekend and it opened on a Wednesday.

[CarolKoster]

I was doing Google News about the POTC movie and found this:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin....&EDATE=

Pirates of the Caribbean Hope to Find Treasure at the Box Office

Betting Trends at Sportsbook.com Show Pirates beating Superman Returns

LOS ANGELES, CA, June 29 /PRNewswire/ - On July 7, Johnny Depp will
reprise his Academy Award nominated role as Captain Jack Sparrow in
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The highly anticipated
follow-up to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is
expected to draw large crowds across the U.S. during its opening weekend.
Sportsbook.com, the world's largest online sportsbook and casino, has
posted odds on the film's opening weekend U.S. gross suggesting the sequel
will surpass the success of the first Pirates.

The first Pirates movie grossed more than $305 million in the U.S. and
today, industry experts are predicting even higher box office returns for
the sequel. Casting Johnny Depp in the lead role certainly helps. Since the
start of his film career in the early 1980s, Depp's movies have grossed
over $2.5 billion worldwide. The return of heartthrobs Orlando Bloom and
Kiera Knightley alongside Depp adds to the star power of Pirates 2. The
film's director is Gore Verbinski, whose directing credits include the
first Pirates of the Caribbean and The Ring.

According to the latest betting trends from Sportsbook.com, bettors are
expecting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest to eclipse Superman
Returns, the season's first major release, at the box office. More than 97%
of bets have been wagered on Pirates 2 to gross more than $90 million
during its opening weekend, compared to just over 23% of bets wagered on
Superman Returns, opening today, to earn more than $89.5 million during its
opening weekend.

Sportsbook.com continues to offer bettors the exciting new option of
wagering on the opening weekend gross of major film releases throughout the
year along with exclusive industry background information to help bettors
make their choice.

"Box office battles are a blast to watch." said Alex Czajkowski,
Marketing Director, Sportsbook.com. "Everybody bets and movie buffs love to
wager on the fortunes of Hollywood's self-proclaimed blockbusters. It will
be fun to see whether Pirates 2 can beat the Man of Steel."

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

- US Opening Weekend Gross 07/07/06 - 07/09/06: US$ in Millions
- Over 96.5 (-170)
- Under 96.5 (+130)

Betting Trends
--------------

US Opening Weekend Gross - US$ in Millions

Superman Returns - $89.5 million
--------------------------------
Over 23.19%
Under 76.81%

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - $90.0 million
----------------------------------------------------------
Over 97.66%
Under 2.32%


About Sportsbook.com:
Sportsbook.com is the largest sportsbook and casino on the planet,
where millions of adult Americans bet on sports, play poker and enjoy
blackjack and other casino games online in a regulated and licensed
jurisdiction. Named the "Best US Sports Book" by the industry's top
magazine, eGaming Review, Sportsbook.com has been leading the online gaming
industry since 1996. Dwarfing its nearest competitors in the US,
Sportsbook.com has been the first to achieve every significant industry
milestone, from record turnover to active users to number of
bets--achieving a peak of fifteen bets per second. As the US online gaming
leader, the firm and it's products have been featured on CBS 60 Minutes,
CNN, ESPN, Wall Street Journal, Barrons, Financial Times, USA Today and in
every major newspaper in the US.
Sportsbook.com is the flagship brand for Sportingbet PLC, (LSE: SBT),
the world's leading publicly traded online gaming company. Sportingbet PLC,
headquartered in London, England, has been voted number one in the industry
for two years in a row by the authoritative eGaming Review Power 50 Survey.


SOURCE Sportsbook.com

End of quoted material.

Not endorsing real betting by anyone, but at BoxOfficeMojo.com they do make friendly bets among themselves.

I'm thinking POTC 2 has a great deal of public demand and good will built up behind it, after 3 years of no sequel. The down side is that so far this year audiences are not going to theaters in the droves they used to, and some preliminary reviews for POTC 2 are good to good-mixed.

My bets:

Opening day: $80 million - $90 million
Opening weekend: Over $100+ million
US Domestic Gross total box office: $750 million-$850 million
Longevity at the box office, US: Three months to three and a half months

[Disney Vault]

Thanks for sharing that. 80-90 opening day would be amazing. It would be so cool if they were able to get the record for biggest opening.

[Osky]

I am going to go way crazy and say 108 million.

[tod]

$125 million.

Or at least that's what Disney will claim.

--t

[Barbossa]

100 Beeellion Dollars - Dr. Evil

[Osky]

Is this like the Price is Right where we have to be the closest without going over? I bid one dollar, Bob.

[TowerofTerror]

I say 85 million

[potzbie]

I looked at ROTTEN TOMATOES for what the published moview reviewers are saying about DEAD MAN'S CHEST.

The overall rating of DEAD MAN'S CHEST = "rotten"

The critics say that there is action, but no involvement. The pirates are grimey, and not much fun to look at, much less sympathize with. There is nothing to cheer for. Emotionless chase scenes.

Based on the many poor reviews, and the poor review in my local newspaper, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, I predict a strong Disney-loyalty opening, but once word-of-mouth gets out, the second weekend will peter out.
Friends will tell their friends that it isn't a big deal, and that will be that.

[Barbossa]

I looked at ROTTEN TOMATOES for what the published moview reviewers are saying about DEAD MAN'S CHEST.

The overall rating of DEAD MAN'S CHEST = "rotten"

The critics say that there is action, but no involvement. The pirates are grimey, and not much fun to look at, much less sympathize with. There is nothing to cheer for. Emotionless chase scenes.

Based on the many poor reviews, and the poor review in my local newspaper, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES, I predict a strong Disney-loyalty opening, but once word-of-mouth gets out, the second weekend will peter out.
Friends will tell their friends that it isn't a big deal, and that will be that.

But Cap'n Jack and Barbossa are in it. It's gotta be good!

[Disney Vault]

Since when do people listen to critics

Jerry Bruckheimer's wife put it very well. Critics shouldn't review movies like this. They should stick to the smaller films. It is like a fine art critic try to review a comic book. (I forget her exact example but it was something like that) They are totally different things just like the movies.

I will look a direct quote later tomorrow.

[Vegitabeta]

I'm going to see the movie in a couple of hours I read a review on msn that said that Orli and Keira might as well not be there, the story isn't as good as the first, and Johnny is the only one who makes the movie...They gave it 7/10.

[Disney Vault]

Jerry Bruckheimer's wife actualy said it is like someone who reviews the opera trying to review an Eminem cd. It isn't their field to criticize.

[Disnerd]

Here it is only Saturday and Dead Man's Chest has already shattered the opening day totals in Hollywood history!

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime...ge=open&p=.htm

[mi_mous]

Cool!

[I Heart Disneyland!]

Just saw this! http://www.comcast.net/entertainment...08/430027.html

[TowerofTerror]

I say it gone to make 120 mllion from my guess of 85 million I said yesterday. I`m excited Im going to see it tonight. I got my tickets for a 715pm showing of it.

[Disney Vault]

I am seeing it tonight to at 9:45. The three shows before that are all sold out