Shiver me timbers! Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides raked in plenty of booty this weekend, with Capt. Jack Sparrow dragging more than 90 million dubloons out of the North American box office.
You’d think that kind of loot would be enough to make any Roger jolly. But even though Pirates hornswaggled the biggest opening weekend of the year, some of its makers may still be blubbering in their grog. Box office prognosticators figured Pirates might’ve been the first film this year to batten down a $100 million opening weekend (two films—Alice in Wonderland and Iron Man 2—had done so by this point last year). But the fourth film didn’t cut nearly as fine a path as Sparrow’s second and third voyages did, and Pirates must plunder a lot more treasure before it can recoup its estimated $250 million budget. Arrrghhh.
There was still enough coin in the bilge for some old cinematic salts to let out a hearty yo-ho-ho. Bridesmaids scoured up another $21 million to hold down second place for the second straight week. And Thor thumped its way to another $15.5 million, giving it a tidy $145 million on the year. The year’s No. 1 movie thus far, Fast Five, has made $186 mil in 2011 and still has some gas in the tank. It cruised to another $10.6 million this week to finish fourth.
Most reviewers have keelhauled On Stranger Tides, and Plugged In wasn’t that fond of it, either. We found the dark spirituality and abuse of mostly naked mermaids particularly troublesome—though reviewer Bob Hoose did say the film had a heart. Or, at least, “a small, squinty-eyed piratey soul who lets out a contemplative half grunt before drawing sword from scabbard.” For those of you who sailed with Capt. Sparrow this weekend, tell me: Did the thing sink? Or was it (ahem) avast improvement over the last couple?
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