On the strength of an impressive overseas performance, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides has crossed $1B in worldwide box office. The fourth film in the ‘Pirates’ franchise has grossed an estimated $1,007,703,000 — $233.703M domestic / $774.0M foreign.
Not adjusting for inflation, it’s now the eighth film to acheive the milestone and the fourth Disney film (and third in the last two years). Here’s the current top 10 worldwide chart (courtesy Box Office Mojo–as of July 2):
| 1 | Avatar | Fox | $2,782.3 | $760.5 | 27.3% | $2,021.8 | 72.7% | 2009^ |
| 2 | Titanic | Par. | $1,843.2 | $600.8 | 32.6% | $1,242.4 | 67.4% | 1997 |
| 3 | The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | NL | $1,119.1 | $377.0 | 33.7% | $742.1 | 66.3% | 2003 |
| 4 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest | BV | $1,066.2 | $423.3 | 39.7% | $642.9 | 60.3% | 2006 |
| 5 | Toy Story 3 | BV | $1,063.2 | $415.0 | 39.0% | $648.2 | 61.0% | 2010 |
| 6 | Alice in Wonderland (2010) | BV | $1,024.3 | $334.2 | 32.6% | $690.1 | 67.4% | 2010 |
| 7 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | BV | $1,007.7 | $233.7 | 23.2% | $774.0 | 76.8% | 2011 |
| 8 | The Dark Knight | WB | $1,001.9 | $533.3 | 53.2% | $468.6 | 46.8% | 2008 |
| 9 | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone | WB | $974.7 | $317.6 | 32.6% | $657.2 | 67.4% | 2001 |
| 10 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End | BV | $963.4 | $309.4 | 32.1% | $654.0 | 67.9% | 2007 |
As you can see, there’s a significant difference between domestic and foreign gross, with foreign grosses accounting for more than 3/4 of the film’s gross. That’s a huge difference from the first film in the franchise which grossed $654.3M worldwide with foreign grosses accounting for 53% of the total gross ($348.9M Foreign / $305.4M Domestic). ‘Pirates 2’ and ‘Pirates 3’ are both present on the above chart so it’s clear to see that this franchise has increasingly become a Foreign box office draw.
