8:33 AM PDT 5/26/2017 by Pamela McClintock
Johnny Depp returns as Captain Jack Sparrow in Memorial Day tentpole 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,' while the R-rated 'Baywatch' stars Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron.
Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales is easily winning the Memorial Day weekend regatta, while Baywatch, starring man-of-the-moment Dwayne Johnson alongside Zac Efron, is springing leaks in a surprise twist.
Pirates 5, returning Johnny Depp in the lead role as the zany Captain Jack Sparrow, earned roughly $23.4 million Friday from 4,276 theaters for a projected $75 million-$78 million domestic debut for the four-day holiday weekend. Although a good start, that would mark the lowest opening of any title in the series save for the first film, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.
Franchise fatigue among U.S. consumers is a huge concern for Hollywood, and Disney is counting on Pirates 5 doing huge business overseas to make up for any deficit closer to home. The movie, costing north of $200 million to make before a major marketing spend, has already earned an impressive $86.5 million internationally for a global tally of $110 million through Friday and projected global debut of $275 million. That includes an opening day of $21.3 million China, where it hit theaters Friday.
Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, who helmed the breakout international darling Kon-Tiki, directed Pirates 5. Starring alongside Depp are Javier Bardem, Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, Kevin R. McNally, Golshifteh Farahani, David Wenham, Stephen Graham, Orlando Bloom and Geoffrey Rush.
The franchise has never been a favorite of critics, outside of the first film, with Dead Men Tell No Tales currently sporting a 32 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, roughly on par with the last installment, 2011's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Moviegoers liked it far more, giving the film an A- CinemaScore.
Baywatch, directed by Seth Gordon, fared even worse among reviewers. The R-rated film adaptation of the classic television show currently has a 18 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Paramount and Skydance decided to get a jump on the holiday weekend and launch Baywatch on Thursday, but the movie grossed a disappointing $4.5 million on its first day.
Playing in 3,647 theaters, Baywatch took in an estimated $5.7 million Friday for a projected four-day holiday gross of $21 million and total five-day debut of $26 million. Adding insult to injury, Disney and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is expected to beat Baywatch for the four-day weekend with $26 million).
Heading into the holiday, pre-release tracking had suggested the comedy would clear $40 million, although some services lowered their estimates to $37 million this week. Audiences bestowed Baywatch with a B+ CinemaScore. The movie skewed slightly female (52 percent) on Thursday, while 45 percent of ticket buyers were under the age of 25.
Baywatch, costing under than $70 million to produce before marketing, also stars Priyanka Chopra, Alexandra Daddario, Jon Bass, Kelly Rohrbach and Ilfenesh Hadera. It doesn't debut overseas until June 2.
Last summer, PG-13 action comedy Central Intelligence, starring Johnson alongside Kevin Hart, opened to $35 million over the June 17-19 weekend.
May 26, 12:20 p.m. Updated with revised weekend estimates.
May 27, 7:30 a.m. Updated with revised weekend estimates.