Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides passes $1B

Yesterday someone somewhere bought a ticket for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and pushed it past the $1 Billion mark in worldwide box-office earnings. It’s now the 8th film in history to gross over $1 Billion and the second film in the Pirate series to do so.

It’s Walt Disney Studios’ 4 title to earn $1B, the 3rd Disney film in less than 18 months to gross $1B globally, the biggest international opening ever, and the #3 film of all time at the international box office. It also crossed the $500M international threshold in a record-setting 14 days, and crossed the $800M global threshold in only 20 days, the second fastest ever to reach this milestone. Pic set a new industry speed record by crossing the $700M global threshold in only 16 days. It’s Disney’s biggest international release ever, and the biggest Pirates of the Caribbean installment in 58 territories as well as the highest-grossing Disney film ever released in China and Russia. (Deadline)

Among other things, these numbers serve as scientific study testing the effectiveness of Johnny Depp by removing Keira Knightly and Orlando from the formula in a control experiment. Results appear to be conclusive. Depp is the only active ingredient.

Meanwhile studio researchers are baffled at their failure to confirm the theory that pairing Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts can create any sort of electricity. For the second time in a row, that hypothesis has been disproved, as Larry Crowne is set to come in a distant 4th this weekend with a fizzling $13 mil in holiday earnings. However, there’s encouraging news to support Hollywood’s widespread belief that box-office success is inversely proportional critical acclaim, since Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon is on the fast track to scoop up over $400 million worldwide by July 5th. Likewise, Hangover II has passed the half-Billion dollar mark, collecting $526 mil in a global gotcha! Undeterred, industry alchemists who concocted Arthur and You Highness have concluded that their movies “didn’t suck enough” and remain determined to try harder next time.