3 Days 'till Pirates 3

Tuesday, May 22, 2007 -

As was the case with Spider-Man 3, the news before the storm tends to kick into high gear in the run-up to theatrical release, and Pirates 3 is no exception. In fact, there's enough news over the last two days to fill this post.

Right off the bat you have to consider the possibility that Pirates 3 will set new opening records, resetting the ones set just two weeks ago by SM3. It may not be likely, but it could happen. Pirates 3 is opening on even more screens than SM3 did by over 1,000, and SM3 had already been kicked out of the #1 slot by Shrek 3, not even holding the top spot for three weeks.

Anybody want to take bets that Pirates 3 will gross more than SM3, but not take the opening day/weekend record?

To kick this off, Variety has some quotes and photos from the premier at Disneyland.
Hollywood Reporter has an article about Pirates 3 being the first film to be released on more than 1,000 digital screens.
Here is the release schedule - Wednesday: France, Belgium; Thursday: Australia, Germany, Sweden; Friday: United States, U.K., Spain, Italy, Korea; Saturday: Japan, Taiwan. By the end of the weekend, it will be shown on 17,500 screens in over 4,000 theaters.
AICN also has photos from the premier, along with other Pirates 3/Disneyland related content.
Other Variety content includes a lengthy article on the two writers for the Pirates franchise, two guys I've learned a great deal about writing from through their website.
Last but not least, there are video interviews at IGN with Orlando Bloom, director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and actor Bill Nighy.
Cue an AP article on how much darker Pirates 3 is compared to the rest of the franchise.