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.

Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger TidesDid 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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