Two seafaring films at the box office: Pirates of the Caribbean 5 sails on, Baywatch takes on water
By Buckie Wells
The Memorial Day weekend saw Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and Baywatch go boat to boat, but only one can consider itself a success while the other capsizes.
If you’ve kept your eye on the ad campaigns for both Pirates of the Caribbean and Baywatch, then you know that the trailers debuted to mixed reactions. Plus, once the reviews started pouring in, you might’ve noticed that neither earned massive acclaim.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales currently holds a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus seems to be that Johnny Depp can’t maintain his Jack Sparrow trademarked cool factor that we all fell in love with and that the story doesn’t really know where it’s going.
Meanwhile, Baywatch is treading water with a 19% rating. The tragedy doesn’t come from the tainted brand of Baywatch, but of its principle actors buoyed by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Zac Efron.
Unfortunately, both actors are so likable and work very hard to keep the media and fans on their side. But even they can’t save themselves from drowning at the box office.
Here are the weekend numbers from Box Office Mojo:
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales $62,179,000Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 $19,890,000 Baywatch $18,100,000Alien: Covenant $10,525,000 Everything, Everything $6,185,000 Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul $4,400,000 Snatched $3,905,000 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword $3,215,000The Boss Baby $1,700,000 Beauty and the Beast (2017) $1,563,000"
Those are current numbers, but The Hollywood Reporter estimates that Pirates of the Caribbean is on its way to a $77 million opening this weekend. Also, don’t forget that it’s a long weekend and most people will be looking for a movie to watch tomorrow while they’re off from work.
Now, you can see that The Boss Baby and Beauty and the Beast are still lingering in the Top 10. But Wonder Woman hits theaters this weekend on June 2 and will probably shake things up.
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That’s the weekend box office report. What movies are at the top of your Summer watchlist? And which would/did you pick — Baywatch or Pirates of the Caribbean? Let us know in the comments below!