Seriously? OMG! WTF?

Even as it basks in the box office glory of "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest," Disney is using the opportunity to tighten its belt.The Mouse House will announce within the next 10 days that it’s cutting back on the number of films it makes to around eight per year — it currently releases around 18 — and will substantially reduce its workforce. All movies will be Disney-branded, meaning companies like Touchstone could be vastly diminished.
The cutbacks will be far greater than many anticipated, as Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook looks to reinvent the architecture of his studio. Move reflects an effort to improve the studio’s return on investment and get infrastructure back into line.
While Disney’s having a grand summer with "Pirates" and with Pixar’s "Cars," this year has seen some major misfires: "Stick It," "Annapolis," "Stay Alive" and especially "The Wild."So while the general population wonders how a studio can claim "money problems" after a record-breaking opening — "Pirates" took in a whopping $135 million in its first weekend, and business is brisk even midweek as it heads into another huge weekend — the move re-emphasizes the fact that studios are looking to cut costs amid increasing overhead, production budgets and marketing bills.

Variety 

Silly me thinking that cheap Dinsey would give their employees a bonus for Pirates not a pink slip.

When all the doubloons were actually tallied, the actual three-day gross for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest was $135.6 million, a significant $3.6 mil more than originally estimated, meaning that Spider-Man’s record has been put to even more shame. In fact, Variety notes, the only box-office best Pirates didn’t better was the all-time Saturday payday of $44.8 million, netted by Shrek 2 — although Jack Sparrow came within just 400 thou of doing so.

TV Guide 

Even before Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest set an all-time record for Hollywood’s biggest opening weekend – $132 million in ticket sales in its first three days – the waters were charted for the third and final installment of Disney’s buccaneer trilogy, to be called Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
Johnny Depp, the star of the film, is so committed to the role, he’s keeping in the gold teeth sported by his character, Captain Jack Sparrow. "Are they gonna stay on?" he said to MTV News. "Only until we’re done filming number three. Then I’ll have to go through the process of yanking them."
As for offering any hints about the twists and turns of the third movie’s plot, the stars have been coy. "I am so not going to say anything!" Keira Knightley told MTV News. "I’d have to kill you if I said anything. It would be very messy." Knightley added, however, "It should be good, though."Not to incur the wrath of Knightly, but actress Naomie Harris, who plays Tia Dalma, a voodoo fortuneteller in Dead Man’s Chest, revealed one clue about her relationship with Depp’s character in the forthcoming installment. "It’s supposed to be that we’re lovers," said Harris. "We talked about it in rehearsals, but Gore (Verbinski, the director) left it up to us, really, to come up with our own stories ourselves."
The third installment, which is scheduled to be released next Memorial Day, will resolve the story line between Orlando Bloom’s character, Will, and his father – as well as offer a cameo role for Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, who will play Sparrow’s dad.
In any case, the swashbuckling cast isn’t taking much time to enjoy the enormous success of the second film before starting the final one. "We’re going back soon," Orlando Bloom told MTV. "We’re going back to film three more months." Filming will resume in August, reportedly at Universal City in Hollywood, where an enormous Pirates set awaits to be plundered. 

People 

But I doubt 3 will be the final installment after this weekend’s box office. 

A Pirates of the Caribbean setsider reveals that costars Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom are complete opposites: "Johnny – the SUPERSTAR- arrived at work every day without fanfare and personally greeted everyone. Very approachable. With Orlando it was always a major scene – like Eddie Murphy arriving on the set. An entourage of twenty surrounded the actor and big bodyguards protected him (from WHOM?) Orlando’s assistant was always hovering with TWO cellphones – one for Orlando’s girlfriend (Kate Bosworth) and the other for business calls. " Johnny was down to earth and hung out with the cast and crew between shots. Orlando was aloof and whisked away to his dressing room. Everybody loved Johnny, but Orlando was in his own world. " Imagine what Orlando will be like if he ever gets to be as big a star as Johnny!

Janet Charlton’s Hollywood 

More validation why I love Johnny Depp. Orlando has been lucky enough to be such in some great franchises, it will be interesting to see if he can make it on his own. He seems to have the attitude that he already has, but he hasn’t. 

Johnny Depp’s boozy, woozy buccaneer Jack Sparrow has plundered the box office, with "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest" taking in a record $132 million in its first three days, according to studio estimates Sunday.Disney’s swashbuckling sequel sailed past the previous all-time best debut, 2002’s "Spider-Man," which took in $114.8 million in its first weekend."Dead Man’s Chest" also did nearly three times the business of its predecessor, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," which took in $46.6 million over opening weekend in 2003.The sequel surpassed that total in its first day alone, taking in $55.5 million Friday to beat the previous single-day record of $50 million, set last year by "Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith." With $44.7 million on Saturday, "Dead Man’s Chest" also became the first movie to top $100 million in just two days.

"When people in the industry predicted these high numbers, I thought they were just trying to be mean. So no matter how good we did, if we did $100 million, we’d be failures," Bruckheimer told The Associated Press on Sunday. "I didn’t think we’d get near these numbers.". In a single weekend, "Dead Man’s Chest" reeled in 43 percent of the $305 million total domestic gross the original "Pirates" rang up in its entire six-month theatrical run.The movie’s audience was equally divided between males and females, and it drew strongly from all age groups, according to Disney."It is straight across the board," said Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney, which based the movies on its "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme park ride. "Everybody’s coming. Whoever it is, they’re there." Even factoring in higher admission prices since 2002, "Dead Man’s Chest" still set a record of just under 20 million tickets sold, about 200,000 more than "Spider-Man."

"Maybe the only movie that has a chance to beat this record might be the next `Pirates’ movie," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracker Exhibitor Relations. Audiences won’t have to wait long. Disney shot much of the third installment at the same time as "Dead Man’s Chest," which ends in a cliffhanger leading into part three, due in theaters over Memorial Day weekend next year.

AP 

It is amazing how many records this movie broke!  

« Previous entries Next entries »