YO HO-HUM FOR 3D! 'Pirates Caribbean 4' $35M Friday For Only $89M Domestic Wkd; Overseas Better $92.1M Over First 3 Days

Arrrr, mateys, now I know why these marauders of the seas are always cranky. Because in North America today,Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is looking to open with only $35 million from 4,155 theaters. And that's helped by $4.7M in midnight screenings and higher 3D ticket prices from 2,747 3D locations including 256 IMAX (an IMAX domestic record).

1. Pirates Of The Caribbean 4 3D (Disney) NEW [4,155 Theaters]
Friday $35M, Estimated Weekend $89M

A Disney exec told me Friday that IMAX grosses were "very solid" for the film, but this morning he acknowledges that 3D turned "very soft" in the U.S. and Canada. That probably translates into less than a $90M weekend -- right now, it's looking like $89M -- and a far cry from the $100M weekend which Disney was expecting or the $114M which Pirates 3 did in 2007 for the first 3 days of the Memorial long weeken. On the other hand, the 2011 Summer Movie Season already has seen a trend towards higher-than-expected Saturday attendance by family audiences which could improve Pirates 4grosses. Then again, reviews for Rob Marshall's direction have ranged from bad to mediocre coming on the heels of fan disappointment with the franchise's threequel from Gore Verbinski who helmed the trilogy. However, CinemaScore was a B+, indicating moviegoers liked the new film. Or maybe just those mermaid scenes.

For over 2,000 midnight locations, Pirates 4 opened to a hefty $4.7M, beating the previous midnights for Disney's own Alice In Wonderland and well as new Summer 2011 blockbusters Fast Five and Thor. Disney released On Stranger Tides into 4,155 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, of which 2,747 are 3D locations including 256 IMAX (an IMAX domestic record). But interestingly, a survey by big online movie ticketseller Fandango found 61% of more than 2,000 ticketbuyers picked Johnny Depp's new love interest Penelope Cruz as primary reason to attend, while only 29% selected 3D as a main factor. It won't help that the new installment will have to contend with Hangover Part 2 and Kung Fu Panda 2 this Memorial weekend so rival studios think Pirates 4 will have a tough road to reach the $300M domestic of all three prior films. That may not matter because Disney is confident it can pass the $670M of Pirates 3 now that international numbers are coming in stronger than hoped for. As a Disney exec acknowledged to me, "It’s a summer popcorn four-quadrant pic and U.S. audiences know what they’re getting. But internationally, there's no denying it’s more important than ever and Johnny’s global appeal will definitely help us as well as the addition of Penelope in Europe (and the rest of world) certainly won’t hurt."

The 2011 Summer Movie Season began its blockbuster rollout overseas with bothFast Five and Thor opening first abroad and establishing their box office bonafides before coming to North America. And now it's Disney's turn. In this case, foreign will save this pic. Pirates 4's international grosses continue to overperform the results of Pirates 3 in most of the 70 foreign markets. This included Russia where 3D continues to play huge and star Johnny Depp showed up for the premiere: $15.6M there so far which has already passed the previous opening weekends of the Pirates franchise. On Friday, the fourquel took in $46.2M overseas (China not included) which is above Pirates 2 (2%) andPirates 3 (24%) initial Friday performance because of solid results in big markets like Italy, Germany, and the UK. In the first 3 days of release, the film has taken in $92.1M which is 8% higher than Pirates 3 that ultimately took in $216M internationally, the 3rd biggest debut in weekend history. Pirates 4 is already the biggest overseas opening of 2011, with Wednesday  opened in 33% of the international market, Thursday 32%, and Friday 35%.

2. Bridesmaids (Universal) Week 2 [2,937 Theaters]
Friday $6.3M (-18%), Estimated Weekend $22M, Estimated Cume $60.4M

Universal's R-rated female comedy Bridesmaids is having an exceptional hold at the start of its 2nd weekend. Elated Universal execs reached all the way back to New Line's The Wedding Crashers to find an R-rated comedy with anywhere near a comparable hold. 

3. Thor 3D (Marvel/Disney/Paramount) Week 3 [3,924 Theaters]
Friday $4.4M, Estimated Weekend $15.3M, Estimated Cume $145.2M

The Norse god came into its 3rd weekend with $238M international. Paramount expects another $9M-$12M for Thor this weekend which would bring the overseas cume to right around $250M. 

4. Fast Five (Universal) Week 4 [3,622 Theaters]
Friday $3.1M, Estimated Weekend $10.8M, Estimated Cume $186.4M

This streetracing turned heist film crossed $300M at the international box office on Friday and will pass $500M worldwide on Sunday. International for Fast Fivegrossed $5.5M at 8,800 dates in 61 territories on Friday for a total of $303M.  Universal's weekend estimate is $23M, which will raise the overseas total to $318M on Sunday. Combined with the domestic estimate of $186.6M, the worldwide total will reach $504.6M after Sunday. 

5. Priest 3D (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 2 [2,864 Theaters]
Friday $1.4M (-75%), Estimated Weekend $4.1M, Estimated Cume $23.2M

6. Something Borrowed (Warner Bros) Week 3 [2,606 Theaters]
Friday $1.2M, Estimated Weekend $3.5M, Estimated Cume $31.5M 

7. Rio 3D (Blue Sky Studio/Fox) Week 6 [2,593 Theaters]
Friday $1.1M, Estimated Weekend $5.6M, Estimated Cume $132.6M 

8. Jumping The Broom (TriStar/Sony) Week 3 [1,472 Theaters]
Friday $1M, Estimated Weekend $3.7M, Estimated Cume $31.4M

9. Water For Elephants (Fox 2000/Fox) Week 5 [1,894 Theaters]
Friday $660K, Estimated Weekend $2.3M, Estimated Cume $52.6M 

10. Madea's Big Happy Family (Lionsgate) Week 5 [912 Theaters]
Friday $280K, Estimated Weekend $1M, Estimated Cume $51.7M

Meanwhile, Woody Allen's newest romantic comedy, Midnight In Paris, scored an awesome per screen average of $28,488 in just 6 locations for Friday's tally of $171K. Estimated weekend is $564K for Sony Pictures Classics. 

2ND UPDATE, FRIDAY 8:30 AM: I just heard the early number for over 2,000 midnight locations of Pirates 4 are coming in from North America, and it's a hefty $4.7M. It beats the previous midnights for Disney's own Alice In Wonderland and well as new Summer 2011 blockbusters Fast Five and Thor. Disney is releasingPirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides into 4,155 theaters today in the U.S. and Canada, of which 2,747 are 3D locations including 256 IMAX (an IMAX domestic record). According to big online movie ticketseller Fandango, Pirates 4 is scooping up 81% of all sales as of 9 AM this morning, with Universal's holdoverBridesmaids in second place with 8% and Marvel/Disney/Paramount's Thor with 2% entering its 3rd week. Interestingly, a Fandango survey of more than 2,000Pirates 4 ticketbuyers found that 61% picked Johnny Depp's new love interest in the movie Penelope Cruz as a main reason to attend, while only 29% selected 3D as a main factor.

Meanwhile, rival studios are expecting Pirates 4 to open a notch behind Pirates 3which did $114 million for the first 3 days of the Memorial long weekend in 2007 despite those higher 3D ticket prices which will allow it to beat Fast Five as the biggest opening of 2011 so far. Projections are for the pic to open between $90-$100 million, with Disney counting on a $100+M debut. But reviews so far have been soft coming on the heels of fan disappointment with the franchise's 2007 threequel. Plus, the new installment will have to contend with Hangover 2 andKung Fu Panda 2 the following Memorial weekend so rival studios think Pirates 4will have a tough road to reach the $300M domestic of all three prior films. That may not matter because Disney is confident it can pass the $670M of Pirates 3now that international numbers are coming in stronger than hoped for because of 3D and the star power of Johnny Depp.

"Rivals are right about the reviews," a Disney exec acknowledged to me, "but it’s a summer popcorn four-quadrant pic and U.S. audiences know what they’re getting. We'll see what CinemaScore says tonight. But internationally, there's no denying it’s more important than ever and Johnny’s global appeal will definitely help us as well as the addition of Penelope in Europe (and the rest of world) certainly won’t hurt." It also remains to be seen if new director Rob Marshall can top Gore Verbinski who helmed the Pirates Of The Caribbean trilogy.

UPDATE, FRIDAY 8 AM: Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesmade $25.7M Thursday in 27 new territories taking its two-day total to $44.2M. That's 10% higher than the Pirates 3 installment.

THURSDAY 7 AM: The 2011 Summer Movie Season began its blockbuster rollout overseas this time around. Fast Five and Thor both opened first abroad and established its box office bonafides before coming to North America. And now it's Disney's turn: by the timePirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides opens in 4,155 North American theaters on Friday, it will already have had debuts in 70 countries. Right now, the internationally set movie is scoring huge in the first 10 countries it opened Wednesday, posting $18.5M. This tops the $12.3M logged by Pirates 3 from 16 territories by 50%. True, a big question mark has been whether this franchise is played out, especially after the last installment was excoriated by reviewers and fans, but then sequels always perform better internationally than in the U.S. and Canada.

So far Pirates 4 has the biggest opening day ever in Russia with an industry record-breaker there of RBL130M/$5M beating the previous high set by Twilight(RBL122M). This is 125% ahead of Alice In Wonderland and 78% ahead ofPirates 3. France took in €2.1M/$3.1M, which is 17% of Pirates 3 and 10% ahead of Alice In Wonderland. That's not surprising since the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last Saturday and star Johnny Depp lives in that country. There also were very strong starts in the UK, Italy, and Sweden. UK registered £2.0M/$3.2M, just 1% behind Pirates 3. 

Disney is looking for a big global first weekend with 65% of the foreign markets opening before the U.S. opens Friday. In total, Pirates 4 is debuting in more than 70 countries for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.On Wednesday, the fourquel  opened in 33% of the international market: UK (with a big premiere attended by tens of thousands of fans), Russia (following Depp’s first-ever trip for the Moscow premiere), France (fresh off Cannes), Italy, Belgium, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Taiwan. On Thursday (32% of market), its Germany (premiere in Munich this past week), Australia (Geoffrey Rush went to Australia premiere after Cannes), Korea, Austria, Denmark, Turkey, Holland, and Argentina. Friday (remaining 35%) will be U.S., Canada, Japan, Mexico, Spain (Madrid premiere last night with Spanish-born star Penelope Cruz), and China, as well as 44 minor territories.

Deadline.com