In some countries, opening a movie during the World Cup may be a self-imposed walk on the plank, but for Disney's second high seas adventure take on their famous theme park ride (since updated to reflect the new found success), "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," it was more like an easy walk to the bank.
The sequel, which found the series heroes delaying a wedding and facing off against Davy Jones and a Kraken, was "a juggernaut, and it just keeps going," said Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations Co, as it opened to $135.6 million, almost a third of its ultimate total gross.
"Dead Man's Chest" was quite a treasure for Disney, achieving the following feats at the box office: highest single day gross, highest three-day opening in box-office history (swinging past "Spider-Man" with $135.6 million), the first film in box office history to pass $100 million in only two days, and the fastest film in box office history to pass $300 million (doing so in only 16 days, surpassing its predecessor, "Curse of the Black Pearl)."
For Jack Sparrow embodier Johnny Depp, he took the success in stride. While he told The Guardian in 2006 that Hollywood had long considered him "box-office poison," he was glad that this franchise came on his own terms.
"I was able to do every single film I wanted to do and with every filmmaker I wanted to work with," he said. "To me, whether I'm playing Ed Wood or 'Fear and Loathing,' all these movies have commercial potential. Pirates could have easily flopped. It's always a crap shoot."
