Walt Disney (DIS)
If Spidey and Shrek don't wind up as the summer box office champ, it'll probably be Jack Sparrow's fault.The third, and supposedly final, movie in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise has a lot to live up to, however. Last year's "Dead Man's Chest" grossed $135.6 million in its opening weekend, breaking the previous opening weekend record set by "Spider-Man" in 2002. So analysts say Disney needs another huge opening since its movie business will face tough comparisons to last year.
Opening just before Memorial Day, BoxOfficeGuru.com's Pandya thinks that the movie will help set a Memorial Day weekend box office record.
But given that the second "Pirates" movie was panned by many critics, some wonder if filmgoers are as eager to see this movie as some of the other summer sequels. In other words, is the third movie in this franchise going to perform more like box office dud "The Matrix Revolutions" or box office stud "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King?"
Still, even though few would argue that the second "Pirates" movie was as good as the first, the third promises to be a lot more fun, particularly since Geoffrey Rush is back as Barbossa and Chow Yun-Fat joins the cast as a rival pirate.
And who could resist seeing Johnny Depp interact with Keith Richards? Richards, who Depp is said to have modeled his portrayal of Sparrow after, has a cameo as Depp's father in the movie. No word though on whether or not Richards snorts the ashes of any dead pirates.
