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The declining popularity around Disney's Pirates of the Caribbeanmovies continues -- in the U.S., at least -- with the release of Dead Men Tell No Tales.
The fifth entry in the series is looking at an opening weekend domestic estimate of $62.2 million at the box office. It's good enough for a first-place finish, but it isn't the runaway success Disney was likely hoping for.
SEE ALSO:'Pirates of the Caribbean' swims in circles with 'Dead Men Tell No Tales'Dead Menis pacing toward the series' second-lowest opening in the U.S., after the 2003 original. The Curse of the Black Pearlopened with $46.6 million domestically, but back then it was also an unproven blockbuster based -- seemingly impossibly, at the time -- on a theme park ride.
Pirates' fortunes improved in subsequent releases, with the second, third, and fourth movies opening at $135.6 million (2006), $114.7 million (2007), and $90.2 million (2011), respectively. While that downward trend in opening weekends suggests diminishing interest in the series among U.S. audiences, the opposite is true at the foreign box office.
Disney's success has only increased with each successive Pirates. The first movie finished at $350.2 million overseas, but the next iterations went bigger: $642.9 million in 2006, $654 million in 2007, and $804.6 million in 2011.
Dead Menis already up to $208.4 million in foreign ticket sales after a near-simultaneous global opening that includes key markets like the U.K. and China.
The weaker U.S. start could speak to waning excitement over Piratesstar Johnny Depp. The actor has been chased over the past year by allegations of domestic abuse and a subsequent divorce; a dispute with Australia over his dogs; and unusual revelations regarding his life behind the cameras.
There's also the fact that critics have basically eviscerated Dead Men Tell No Tales, though reviews aren't always the best measure of public interest when it comes to summer blockbusters.
Piratesstill managed to deliver an opening weekend win, with an easy finish ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. Now in its fourth weekend, the Guardians sequel -- which picked up an estimated $19.9 million domestically -- is doing just fine, with a cumulative total of $333.2 million in the U.S. contributing to a worldwide box office of $783.3 million.
That said, Guardians' chances of cracking a $1 billion box office are looking less and less likely. Marvel moved the sequel back to an early May opening following the original's early August success. With summer blockbusters already arriving -- and more yet to come -- another $200-plus million for Guardians 2might be a stretch.
Newcomer Baywatchfalls in at #3 for the weekend, with an estimated $18.1 million domestically. That's a rough start by most measures, and there's not much of an overseas box office to look at yet.
Most of the overseas openings for Baywatchare set for June. More importantly: China, one of the largest film markets in the world, has no release date set at all. With a budget that reportedly hovers around $70 million, it's looking like Paramount will struggle to break even with this one.
That's not the only weekend bust. Baywatchcomes in ahead of #4 finisher Alien: Covenant, which earned an estimated $10.5 million. Alienopened last week with a Guardians-toppling $36.2 million first place finish.
The Ridley Scott-directed Prometheusfollow-up -- with a reported budget of close to $100 million -- will seemingly find most of its success in foreign ticket sales. It's already up to an estimated $86.2 million overseas, and it doesn't open in China until mid-June.
Just for context: Prometheusfinished its domestic theatrical run in 2012 with $126.5 million in ticket sales, plus an additional $276.9 million from foreign audiences -- and it never even opened in China. Covenantis pacing for a far lower finish domestically, but its fortunes could easily be buoyed if the solid overseas performance continues.
All box office data provided by comScore and Box Office Mojo.
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