'Pirates' plunders booty at UAE box office

“Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” continued its golden run at the box office in its second week by amassing over $623 million globally, according to Boxofficemojo.com, while breaking records even in the UAE and the Middle East.
 
The film’s official distributor Italia Films has been quoted as saying “On Stranger Tides” has earned Dh6.2m in its three-day weekend in the UAE and has an admission amount of 140,206 audience members for the same period.
 
This has catapulted the Johnny Depp-starrer to hold the official UAE gross record for the best late night show opening, best first day opening, best second day opening and best three-days weekend opening.
 
These numbers have also put the movie ahead of the James Cameron’s money-spinners, “Titanic” and “Avatar”, here in the emirates.
 
While the fourth installment of the Pirates franchise opened to mixed reviews globally on May 19, the film still hit the top spot in the US by raking in over $90m in its opening weekend, while collecting nearly $153m in domestic receipts alone till date.
 
But earning a whopping triple in ticket receipts, the Disney film’s foreign collections have pulled in nearly $471m, making Pirates one of the most successful franchises of all time.
 
The film’s foreign gross total has already surpassed that of the franchise original, 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”, which racked up $352.9m.
 
Meanwhile, Disney has said “On Stranger Tides” has also set opening box office records in the Middle East, Russia, Latin America (where the gross from 13 territories totalled $29.9 million), Norway, Turkey and the Ukraine while setting franchise opening records in a host of territories including China, Czech Republic, Croatia, German-speaking European territories, India and South Africa.
 
The combined earnings of the first three films in the franchise, till date, has already grossed a cool $1.038 billion globally, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
 
Industry pundits say “On Stranger Tides” has enjoyed a boost in revenue from 3D ticket prices, unlike its predecessors, along with worldwide appeal of the Depp and Penelope Cruz chemistry.
 
The movie see the return of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), who crosses paths with a woman from his past, Angelica (Penelope Cruz), and sets sail on an adventure to find the Fountain of Youth.
 
When Angelica forces him aboard the ship of the formidable pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane), Jack finds himself on an unexpected adventure in which he doesn’t know who to fear more: Blackbeard or the woman from his past. The film is directed by Rob Marshall.

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