Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow "rescues" the movie industry, says USA Today

With his dreadlocks and dangles, he may seem an unlikely superhero, but Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow overcame three years of declining movie ticket sales and “rescued” the movie industry, says Scott Bowles of USA TODAY. In an article entitled “A Pirate Rescues Movies,” Bowles notes that the blockbuster success of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST helped lift other movies as well, as customers who could not get into sold-out shows of DEAD MAN’S CHEST bought tickets for other films instead. “It’s hard to overestimate the effect of PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST, analysts and studio execs say,” writes Bowles. With U.S. tickets sales of $358.5 million, Johnny’s pirate movie has “helped propel overall summer ticket sales above $2.84 billion, 6% ahead of last year.”

Although it slipped to #2 at the box office last weekend, as newcomer MIAMI VICE eked out a narrow victory in its opening weekend, DEAD MAN’S CHEST now seems certain to earn more than $400 million domestically, which will make it one of the five biggest movies of all time. It continues to perform very well in overseas markets, breaking numerous box-office records and earning $305.5 million so far, which gives DEAD MAN’S CHEST a worldwide box-office total of $664 million . . . and counting.

The Zone thanks theresa for posting the USA Today story on our News & Views forum. You can read Bowles’s entire analysis of the summer movie season HERE.