Pirates of the Caribbean' posts year's best opening

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By John Young, EW

Now more than ever, the entire world knows the name of Captain Jack Sparrow. "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" opened globally this weekend, and while it performed admirably in the U.S., its $256.3 million opening overseas -- the largest foreign debut ever -- is why Disney executives will be swigging celebratory bottles of rum tonight.

Domestically, the $250 million film plundered $90.1 million, passing "Fast Five's" $86.2 million debut to secure the year's largest opening. However, the 3-D adventure movie fell short of the last two "Pirates" entries; by comparison, 2006's "Dead Man's Chest" opened to $135.6 million, and 2007's "At World's End" took in $114.7 million. "On Stranger Tides," the fourth title in the "Pirates" series, also garnered the franchise's weakest reviews, but CinemaScore audiences handed the PG-13 film a favorable "B+" grade.

Creating its own box-office news was the R-rated comedy "Bridesmaids," which fell a mere 20 percent for $21.1 million. That's a smaller second-weekend drop than 2009's "The Hangover," and a far better hold than 2008's "Sex and the City," which plummeted 63 percent its second week.

"Thor," which lost many of its 3-D and IMAX screens to "Pirates," didn't fare as well. The PG-13 superhero movie declined 55 percent for $15.5 million, pushing its three-week tally to $145.4 million.

And right behind it was the horror action film "Priest," which earned $4.6 million -- a monstrous fall of 69 percent.In fifth, the animated avian flick "Rio' slipped 44 percent for $4.7 million.

In limited release, "Midnight in Paris" -- the new Woody Allen romantic comedy starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams -- collected $579,000 from just six locations. Its estimated per-theater tally of $96,500 is the 15th best opening-weekend average on record, beating the likes of "There Will Be Blood," "The King's Speech," and "Black Swan".

Check back next week as two sequels, "The Hangover Part II" and "Kung Fu Panda 2," open on Thursday for the Memorial Day holiday weekend