LOS ANGELES, May 28 — The Memorial Day weekend affirmed the muscle of the international movie market as “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” the third installment of Disney’s blockbuster series, set new industry benchmarks with an aggressive release in more than 10,000 theaters in 104 countries.
Walt Disney executives said that they had broken out in high fives on Monday morning in their Burbank offices as they learned that “Pirates 3” would surpass $400 million in ticket sales around the world in its first six days of release.
The film’s big success comes on the heels of the blockbuster triumph of Sony’s “Spider-Man 3,” which was also released on a global scale earlier this month.
“It’s truly what I’d call the modern-day Disney franchise,” Mark Zoradi, president of Walt Disney Studios marketing and distribution, said of “Pirates.” “We had such an international cast, we had a story that wasn’t landlocked to North America, so this was the absolute perfect movie to open on global basis. That was the strategy.”
More than ever Hollywood has learned to tweak its blockbuster formula to favor the rising influence of the international market, which is now responsible for more than half of annual box office revenues, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
In addition to Johnny Depp and the returning British actors Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, “Pirates 3” also features the Asian star Chow Yun-Fat. Disney took care to open the film on Wednesday in France, when children are out of school, and on Thursday in Germany, when films traditionally open in that country.
As a result, “Pirates 3” — with a 2-hour-47-minute running time and a reported $300 million budget — took in $245 million outside of North America, far surpassing the $156 million that the film took in domestically since opening on Thursday.
The studio said the total — $401 million — was the biggest opening in Hollywood history, but most openings are tallied as weekends rather than six-day periods, and the domestic box office figure did not break the record set by “Spider-Man 3” earlier this month, with an opening weekend record of $151 million over three days.
“Pirates 3” took in $142 million over the four-day weekend, and another $14 million in Thursday previews.
For the industry the box office revenues domestically over all set a new Memorial Day weekend record, with “Shrek the Third” taking in another $69 million for DreamWorks over four days, while “Spider-Man 3” brought in another $18 million. That film is expected eventually to take in close to $900 million, which would make it the most successful in Sony’s history.
The downside of releasing a global blockbuster is the high risk in making such films. “Spider-Man 3” also reportedly cost around $300 million to produce. A film executive close to “Pirates 3” said that the long running time significantly added to the budget, making the cost of the effects for the production about $1 million a minute.
But both films have also demonstrated the rewards that can come with such risks. And with the official start of summer, Hollywood could well have a record-breaking season. This year over all, ticket sales are up 6.3 percent over last year, for a total of $3.6 billion, according to Media by Numbers, which tallies box office revenues.
“This May has been incredible,” Paul Dergarabedian, the company’s president, said. “Two years ago it would have been unfathomable to be in such a strong position. Usually there’s more of a mix of blockbusters in May. This marketplace is so clearly dominated by sequels that this strategy may be one they try to repeat again.”
For Disney, anyway, that’s certainly the case. Mr. Zoradi said the studio was taking a similar global approach with its coming sequel to “The Chronicles of Narnia” next year, and for the next installment of “National Treasure,” now in production.
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” has British stars and is set in a mythical land, while the plot of “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” takes the hunt to London and France.
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