A Funny Thing Happened To Johnny Depp When The World Lights Did Not Go Out

  by JOAL RYAN


Peter Mountain/Disney Enterprises
A funny thing happened when the world didn't end on May 21.

Johnny Depp became the new king of the overseas box-office, but settled for less here in the land of the free, and the home of the apocalypse prophets.

Did doomsday talk keep American moviegoers from venturing to Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides?

GET MORE: Top 10 doomsday movie scenes!

"It was just the opposite," joked Disney exec Chuck Viane. "If there was anything that I'd want to be the last picture I ever saw, I'd want it to be Pirates."

No, it appears On Stranger Tides was bigger overseas than here for the same reason Thor was: The overseas market is hot; we're kinda not as much.

Worldwide, the Pirates sequel has grossed an eye-popping $346.4 million since opening in some foreign countries on Wednesday. Per Disney, only Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Spider-Man 3 and the second Pirates sequel, At World's End, had bigger, faster global starts.

The movie's haul broke down this way, per estimates: a record-setting $256.3 million overseas; a non-record-setting $90.1 million domestically.

On Strangers Tides is the "smallest"-opening Pirates sequel here, and the first to fail to clear $100 million.

"I understand where people wanted it to go," Viane said, "…[but] we were the biggest piece of the pie in a weekend that was ahead of last year."

On Strangers Tides nudged past Fast Five to become the No. 1-opening movie of the underwhelming box-office year.

Well, it's been underwhelming here anyway…

Elsewhere, the word was out on Bridesmaids, and the word clearly was good: The Kristen Wiig comedy was barely down at all from its opening. (Just a 20 percent dip. And, no, not even The Hangover held that well.) Overall, Bridesmaids is now at $57.5 million domestically.

Robert Pattinson's Water for Elephants broke $50 million domestically, and neared $100 million worldwide.

Soul Surfer ended its Top 10 run after six surprising weekends, and $40.6 million domestically.

Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris was an art-house blockbuster. It averaged just under $100,000 at each of its six screens. (By comparison, On Stranger Tides averaged a healthy $22,000 off each of its 4,155 screens.)

Here's a complete rundown of the top-grossing films, per Friday-Sunday numbers as compiled by Exhibitor Relations.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, $90.1 million
Bridesmaids, $21.1 million
Thor, $15.5 million
Fast Five, $10.6 million
Rio, $4.7 million
Priest, $4.6 million
Jumping the Broom, $3.7 million
Something Borrowed, $3.4 million
Water for Elephants, $2.2 million
Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, $990,000


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