Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” sequel sailed to the top of the North American box office during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, raking in nearly $78.5 million, industry figures showed Tuesday.
“Dead Men Tell No Tales,” the fifth installment in the wildly popular franchise starring Johnny Depp, sunk another major new studio movie “Baywatch” which came in third place and only managed to bring in a disappointing $23.1 million in ticket sales, Exhibitor Relations said.
Another Disney offering, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” placed second with $27.2 million in its fourth week out.
The lighthearted story of a band of misfit space adventurers — played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel — has taken in $340.5 million domestically since it opened on May 5.
“Dead Men Tell No Tales” also scored big internationally, collecting $247.8 in ticket sales, with China the top foreign market ($92.3 million), Disney said in a statement.
“The $326 million earned by ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales’ means that The Walt Disney Studios has now crossed $3 billion globally in 2017 to date, with international grosses at $1.903 billion and domestic grosses at $1.102 billion,” it said.
Ridley Scott’s “Alien: Covenant,” last week’s box-office leader, dropped off sharply to fourth place during the Memorial Day weekend.
The Fox film, starring Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace and Billy Crudup in the tale of a spaceship landing on a planet that seems idyllic — until aliens attack — netted $13.4 million.
In fifth was “Everything, Everything,” a romantic drama from Warner Bros., at $7.7 million. The film tells the story of a young woman (Amandla Stenberg) who is told she must spend her life indoors in a sterile environment due to a genetic disorder, but later learns she may have been deceived.
