It’s a sad day when Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides making $90 million in its opening weekend is somewhat of a disappointment.

The fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series has gone to show that there is definitely a law of diminishing returns when it comes to some sequels.  Opening on a whopping 4,155 screens, the film brought in $90.1 million this weekend, a $21,685 per-screen average, which is nothing to crow about.  Adjusting for inflation, the attendance was way off for this entry in the series, but the true test will be how it holds up in the coming weeks.

Oddly enough, according to Box Office Mojo, the film did really well in the foreign markets, bringing in $256.3 million, and setting records in multiple countries for an opening weekend.  Despite the lower than expected domestic opening, the franchise still has some life in it, and a fifth film in the series seems almost guaranteed when you count in home video sales and television rights.

In the interesting realm this weekend, Bridesmaids held on to second place, bringing in $21 million this weekend, only dropping 19.8% from its opening weekend.  A normal drop in the second weekend is more in the range of 50%, so it looks like this all female comedy may have the makings of a sleeper comedy hit, especially when you factor in its $32.5 million budget.

Thor fell to third place, bringing in $15.5 million, bringing its total to $146 million domestically.

In fourth place was Fast Five with another $10.6 million, bringing its total to $186.2 million, and it became the most successful of the series as of this past week.  The Fast and the Furious series has shown that some series can go on to be even bigger as it goes on,which makes the Pirates of the Caribbean performance this weekend that much more stark in contrast.

Some days the mysteries of the film industry are just astounding.

In general I’ve been excited for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides … and then I saw this clip.

While the entire Pirates of the Caribbean series has been unrealistic with zombies, squid-headed villains and more, this clip from the fourth in the film series is just so silly as to actually turn me off to it somewhat.  It is just unbelievable moment after unbelievable moment.  Are we to believe the muskets fired just right to sever the rope?  That Capt. Jack (Johnny Depp) knew a guard would rush him in such a way that he could use them as a counter-weight?  That the chandelier would swing in such a way that he would be able to reach it?  (And I have no clue why food is on it)

Again, I get the films are filled with wild stunts and mystical moments, but when you’re trying to lure me into a film, could you have picked a worse scene to release as the first clip?  Why not show us something a little less ridiculous?  It does note bode well for the overall tone of this film.

At least even Depp told The Hollywood Reporter that they need to wait on Pirates of the Caribbean 5, and I couldn’t agree more at the moment.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is due out on May 20th, but that isn’t stopping Disney from going ahead and prepping the fifth installment in the adventures of Capt. Jack Sparrow.

According to an interview with Jerry Bruckheimer in USA Today, test screenings for the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series have said they wouldn’t mind seeing more adventures for Capt. Sparrow, but they want them to be stand alone stories.  ”The audience told us what they loved about it is that it was fresh, it was new, it was a whole new story,” said Mr. Bruckheimer.  ”So that will carry over into the next one, too, to give it something fresh and different. As long as the audience embraces this one, we’ll certainly try to make another one. It’s really up to Johnny (Depp). He loves the character.”

With this in mind, Disney has already contracted Terry Rossio who scripted the first four films has already been signed for the fifth movie.  There is no indication of when the production could be released, and even though the script has been commissioned doesn’t guarantee that it’ll go into production.  Considering the length of time to write a script vs the cost to write it, it’s better to just get the process under way even if they never need it.

We’ll see if the fourth film brings in enough to warrant another one, but somehow we think it’s a safe bet that this isn’t the end of Capt. Sparrow.

It would appear the marketing machine for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is in full effect now. We had the first pictures the other day, and now we’re on to the first trailer.

While I’m not big on never ending sequels these days, I have to say that this fourth Pirates of the Caribbean is looking pretty promising to me.  The trailer certainly hints at some fresh ideas coming into the series with Barbossa looking to work for the crown, Blackbeard showing up, and, oh yeah, mermaids.  That could be interesting.

We’ll see how good the movie is, but for now you can consider my interest definitely captured.

There’s no stopping Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at this point, so you might as well get used to the idea that on May 20th, 2011, it’s hitting theaters.

The fourth film in the series sees Capt. Sparrow (Johnny Depp) racing towards the Fountain of Youth with Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Blackbeard (Ian McShane) trying to beat him to it.  Penélope Cruz also joins the cast as Blackbeard’s daughter, Angelica, a rumored love interest for Sparrow.

Despite questions if this movie should even be made, I have to say these images are getting me excited for another journey with Capt. Jack and crew.

Click the images for larger views.

Capt. Sparrow and Angelica

Capt. Jack, captured again

Angelica, Capt. Jack and Blackbeard

Capt. Jack and his tiny boat

Capt. Jack … being Capt. Jack

Capt. Jack … being Capt. Jack … again

Somehow I don’t think Disney is going to be letting go of Johnny Depp any time soon.

Although Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is due to hit DVD and Blu-ray next Tuesday in the United States, it’s still chugging along in movie theaters. As of today it has grossed $332,370,579 in the U.S., and $667,700,000 internationally for a worldwide gross of $1,000,070,579, only the sixth film to ever break through the billion dollar barrier. It currently is in sixth place, but is well within striking distance of surpassing the fifth place film, The Dark Knight.

This is Tim Burton’s highest grossing film, the previous record for the director being Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at $474 million in worldwide gross.  This is the second film for Disney to break through the barrier, the other being Pirates of the Caribbean:Dead Man’s Chest, which, you guessed it, also starred Johnny Depp.

Alice in Wonderland had a $200 million dollar budget, and by some measures that means the film lost money domestically at $332 million gross.  The rule of thumb for a long time has been that a film needs to gross double its budget domestically to be considered profitable, but with rising budgets, the international box office total is becoming a more important factor for studios.  No matter how you slice it, this film made money, and it is yet another feather in Disney’s, Depp’s and Burton’s caps.

Mr. Depp is already signed on for another film with Disney, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth film in the series.  The in-demand actor has already stated in multiple interviews that so long as he feels the scripts are strong, he is willing to play Jack Sparrow in that series for as many films as they’ll have him.

… somehow I imagine they’re going to make those scripts as strong as they can to keep him around.

Are you ready for another outing with Captain Jack Sparrow?

Disney is currently hosting its first ever official convention in Anaheim, CA, the D23 convention. 5,000 lucky fans were surprised today by Johnny Depp being wheeled out on stage in full Jack sparrow costume, riding upon a replica of the Black Pearl. According to the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Depp stayed in character the entire time, and made jokes about eating Kermit the Frog, who had been on stage earlier, and how he imagines that he “tastes of chicken.”

The whole reason for his appearance was to announce that the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film not only has a title now, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but a release date which has been set for summer 2011.

According to The Geek Files, the title may give away the plot as there was a pirate story called On Stranger Tides that Disney bought the rights to.  The story deals with pirates arriving in the newly founded New Orleans and then looking for the legendary Fountain of Youth.  Rumors had been that the fourth movie would deal with Sparrow and Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) following a similar story, so it looks like we know the plot.

Sadly, Gore Verbinksi, whom directed the first three films has been replaced by Rob Marshall.  I am not overly familiar with Mr. Marshall’s work, but hopefully he won’t change the over all look of the series that much, but I’m willing to give him a fair shake.

So, what say you, are you ready for another adventure with Jack Sparrow?

I have gone on and on about how hard it is for a movie to be considered profitable, but yet the top two films this weekend did it in their opening weekends.  What lesson is there here?

High School Musical 3, the first of the popular franchise to be in theaters, has a reported production budget of a mere $11 million dollars and it grossed $42 million dollars domestically this weekend.  Saw V, reportedly the last film in the series, had a budget of $10.8 million and grossed $30.5 million dollars this weekend.  As I have told you all before, a movie must double its budget to be considered profitable, so on paper, both of these films made well over double their budgets and are completely in the black already.

Hello.  Hollywood?  Are you paying attention?

If this weekend proves anything, it is that films don’t have to have huge budgets with insane special effects to make money.  True, both of these films had built in audiences from the preceeding installments in their respective series, but this also shows if you keep budgets under control, then you can make a quick buck.  Both films star smaller name actors, a major chunk of a film’s budget these days, and concentrate more on the story and plot than catering to some huge actors fan base.  I love Johnny Depp, but he is reportedly getting $54 million to star in a rumored fourth installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, kudos to him, but a huge slap up side the head to the Disney executives for agreeing to it.

Think these are flukes?  The first Saw film was made for $1.2 million dollars and went on to gross $55.1 million domestic.  News has just come out that the Saw series is now the highest grossing horror series ever with a cumulative domestic gross of $145.8 million on an estimated cumulative budget of around $30 million.  (the budget for Saw IV is unknown, so I took an average)  This particular series is not my cup of tea (I like actual horror, and not “horror porn” as some call this), but there is denying that this series is insanely successful.

As for High School Musical 3, well, I don’t get the success of the first two on television, so this one doing so well is also beyond me.  Teenagers seem to love them, so more power to them, and what teens love will always do well.

This does just tell me that Hollywood, for the most part, is broken.  Why should any movie cost $150 million or more?  A large portion of the problem is that they have given in to the insane salaries of stars.  I’m sorry, but no actor is truly worth a $20 million dollar plus paycheck for what amounts to three or four months work.  Stop paying these outrageous paychecks, focus on actually telling a story, and you can turn a profit.  Sure they may not be gigantic profits, but perhaps you could pay your executives less and then you wouldn’t need to turn such huge profits.

Oh, I know, there I go talking all crazy again with sensible talk.  I’m wacky that way.