Chapter 320: Record-Breaking, Breaking, Breaking!

“Pirates of the Caribbean 2” breaks daily box office record with $60.8 million!

“Pirates of the Caribbean 2” shatters records, sparking a moviegoing frenzy!

“Pirates of the Caribbean 2” sets a new North American opening day record at $60.8 million!

Released on the 9th, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest” earned a staggering $60.8 million on its first day, becoming the first film in North American history to surpass $60 million in a single day—not only breaking the previous record held by “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith,” but also setting the new all-time high for both opening day and single-day box office earnings!

When “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s opening day box office was revealed, it sent shockwaves through all of Hollywood.

Beforehand, some had high hopes for “Pirates of the Caribbean 2,” but even those optimistic viewers believed that if it reached the level of “Spider-Man 2,” it would already be an extraordinary achievement. Most others thought “Spider-Man 2” would be this year’s biggest winner, and that “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” would struggle to surpass it.

Unexpectedly, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” didn’t just surpass “Spider-Man 2”—it shattered the record set by “Star Wars: Episode III,” raising both opening day and single-day box office figures to over $60 million!

That’s $60 million! Most Hollywood films haven’t even earned that much in total!

Think about “Around the World in 80 Days,” “Catwoman,” and “King Arthur”—three billion-dollar productions whose combined opening weekend grosses didn’t reach $60 million, yet “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” cleared that in a single day!

He was thrilled because “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s massive success fully demonstrated Depp’s box office draw. Now, America—no, the entire world—loves Depp! When Depp takes on future films, he can demand top-tier compensation!

At this moment, Depp’s agent, Fatty Jack, was both excited and regretful.

The other party opened his mouth, sighed, and said: “The strategy is simple: we promote our own film while undermining ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ to damage its reputation. But, Will, I can’t guarantee this will have much impact—‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ is now nearly impossible to displace…”

For Spielberg, any previous vague thoughts of selling DreamWorks had now been completely erased—why sell when the “Pirates” series is this profitable?

In terms of film quality, he believed it was more refined than his past-life version. As for external factors…

Since Saturday’s box office couldn’t rise further, Sunday’s decline was inevitable.

In his past life, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ had been released before ‘Superman Returns,’ which, despite being a financial loss, still outperformed ‘King Arthur.’ But now, with ‘King Arthur’—a complete flop—released before ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2,’ the environment was ideal. Wu Yuchen also secured more theater screens for its opening.

An entertainment news host remarked: “All the box office losses from this summer’s failed blockbusters have been absorbed by “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”!”

Then Wu Yuchen asked about another critical issue: “How’s the film’s reception?”

Only after “I, Robot” opened did he realize all this effort was pointless…

But now, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” had already crossed $100 million in North America in just ten days—with a 10% share, that’s $30 million alone! And North America’s total box office would surely exceed $300 million! Add his $20 million base salary, Depp should’ve earned at least $60 million—but now he’s only getting half!

It’s 2004; the internet in many global regions was still immature, making online promotion like that of a decade later unrealistic. Without adequate promotion, synchronized releases were hard to achieve, especially with local protectionism and censorship in place…

On the other hand, the number of theaters—4,323 at opening—could only support so many viewers and generate so much revenue; the ceiling was nearly reached, unless ticket prices rose later.

In his past life, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ grossed over a billion dollars—so he believed this version would surpass even that!

On Sunday, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” dropped significantly to $46.83 million.

He regretted signing the original salary agreement with the producers. Back then, Wu Yuchen had insisted on cash payments instead of box office percentages. Fatty Jack, concerned about sequel risks, had compromised, even thinking the deal was generous: $30 million for the second film, $45 million for the third.

Hollywood was completely insane!

“Wu Yuchen goes all out with special effects—“Pirates of the Caribbean 2” breaks opening weekend record!”

After all, the first film was groundbreaking; audiences were awed by this new, mysterious pirate world. But by the second film, even with expanded lore and unveiled secrets, that sense of wonder was gone—only the audience experience continued.

““Pirates of the Caribbean 2” gave audiences an even more immersive cinematic thrill: colossal octopuses, pirate hybrids of man and sea creature, exquisitely detailed ships—all set against grand, thrilling music, radiating irresistible charm! But the most shocking thing? The record-shattering $169 million box office outside the theater!”

Will Smith was muttering curses under his breath.

When this number came out, everyone in Hollywood breathed a sigh of relief—they’d feared “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” might become a monster that defied even the law of Sunday declines. Thankfully, that hadn’t happened!

A daily $46.83 million was still astronomical for 99.9% of films, but the previous two days of consecutive $60 million+ had so stunned Hollywood that this number now seemed almost ordinary.

Even if he ran himself ragged, “I, Robot” was doomed to lose money—only DVD sales could salvage it. But Will Smith had deep pockets; one film wouldn’t hurt him.

Wu Yuchen nodded after hearing this, showing no sign of anger. In fact, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s reception was bound to decline.

The renowned prediction firm CinemaScore also unusually released its forecast for “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” immediately after opening: $150 million North American opening weekend, $500 million North American total, $1 billion global!

Each figure was wildly exaggerated—how many films had ever crossed $1 billion? And $150 million opening weekend would smash the previous record of $138 million set by “Spider-Man 2”—yet CinemaScore dared to say it!

When Saturday’s box office came out at $61.28 million—again breaking the North American single-day record—everyone believed this forecast would come true.

In just two days, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” had earned $122 million, becoming the first film in history to cross $100 million on its second day!

Spielberg, in an interview, couldn’t hide his excitement:

Everyone felt “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” had gone berserk!

After speaking, he glanced at Wu Yuchen, fearing this record-breaking director might be dissatisfied and lash out, so he quickly added: “But we believe some viewers expressed dissatisfaction due to lingering plot threads in the ending.”

Earlier, he’d worried the risks of back-to-back filming of the second and third installments were too high. Now, he only wanted to make more—ideally a ten-film saga!

The momentum of “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” put immense pressure on “I, Robot,” set to release in a few days. North America was going wild over this milestone, and “I, Robot”’s promotional impact would be severely weakened.

Thus, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s overseas box office currently appeared much lower than North America’s—but once overseas releases rolled out, it would surge. After all, such a massive sensation in North America had surely spread worldwide.

“We were clearly stunned—whenever you break an industry record, ‘ecstasy’ immediately flashes in your mind! I don’t know where “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” will end, but $169 million in three days is beyond anything I ever imagined! All I want now is to savor this surprise!”

Yes, whether director Wu Yuchen, Johnny Depp, Hugh Jackman, or Keira Knightley—they’re all phenomenal, all indispensable to the “Pirates” franchise!

Friday: “I, Robot” $13.11 million, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” $23.28 million;

Saturday: “I, Robot” $15.23 million, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” $30.15 million;

Sunday: “I, Robot” $10.22 million, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” $22.54 million;

Undoubtedly, “I, Robot” failed to claim the weekend box office crown, crushed under “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s weight.

At this point, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” had been in theaters for ten days, won two consecutive weekends, and reached a North American total of $315 million!

Meanwhile, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s global box office reached $558 million. This wasn’t because its overseas performance was much worse than North America’s—it was due to distribution delays.

Even though “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” was marketed as a global simultaneous release, many regions still opened later than North America.

“Captain Jack’s charm has conquered the world!”

In the following days, Will Smith was extremely busy—giving interviews, appearing on shows, doing TV spots, visiting radio stations at night, dropping a few rap lines to rally his Black fans.

Meanwhile, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” only rose by $480,000—less than 1%…

Will Smith decisively gave up. Now he lay quietly in bed, content to be a lazy fish. As for promotion? Not a single step further. He surrendered.

After eliminating potential future risks of “Pirates of the Caribbean 2,” Wu Yuchen’s smile finally bloomed. He was, of course, overjoyed by such success—but he’d wanted to confirm it could be even better!

On one hand, North America’s market potential had been nearly exhausted by “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”—all possible viewers had already come; that was the ceiling.

But Wu Yuchen was now staring at the two nearly identical numbers: $60.8 million and $61.28 million.

Thus, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s opening weekend was finalized: $168.91 million, approximately $1.69 billion!

Two months ago, “Spider-Man 2”’s $138 million opening weekend had stunned everyone; now, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” had forcibly raised it by another $30 million!

$169 million in three days—$20 million more than CinemaScore’s $150 million prediction!

What would its final box office be? $1.1 billion? $1.2 billion? $1.3 billion? No one dared to guess!

Because of his influence, this version of “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” achieved even brighter results than the original.

How could he not feel heartache and regret? That was $30 million!

Normally, a film’s Saturday box office exceeds Friday’s by 10–20%.

“Damn it! What stupid release date did you pick! Why choose a slot right next to “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”? Why not last month? Or next month? Fuck!”

Will Smith told Fox’s marketing head: “Hey, what are we going to do now? You’ve got to come up with a response plan!”

So it was perfectly reasonable that this box office surpassed the same-period figures of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2".

The marketing head glanced at Will Smith. If he remembered correctly, this guy had once casually claimed he feared no one—not even Spider-Man. But he wouldn’t mock him now—he still needed this star for promotion!

Will Smith knew cursing was useless. After calming down, he had to negotiate with the other side about last-minute promotional schedules for the coming days.

No one dared say anymore that “Spider-Man 2” would be this year’s box office champion—no one knew where “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s final total would land.

Wu Yuchen understood the reason: it likely came down to two factors.

In Wu Yuchen’s view, an A- rating was more than enough—even a B+ would suffice; it wouldn’t hurt “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s long-term earnings.

So leaving a narrative thread unresolved at the end was actually smart—since the novelty would further decline in the third film, the suspense would lure audiences back to theaters, greatly benefiting the final installment’s box office.

The executive nervously reported:

“Director Wu, according to our survey, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s reception is currently at A-, slightly down from the first film.”

“Captain Jack’s pirate ship ignites a box office storm!”

Of course, this approach was bold and risky—if the film’s content wasn’t strong enough, audiences would tear it apart, dooming the third film. Fortunately, “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” maintained high quality.

Through “Pirates of the Caribbean 2”’s market response, he fully grasped Depp’s critical importance to the franchise. Any talk of replacing Depp in future “Pirates” films? He wouldn’t believe a single word.

Fatty Jack had now made up his mind: if Wu Yuchen and DreamWorks ever make “Pirates 4,” he’d never agree unless Depp received a $100 million salary!