'Pirates of the Caribbean' Friday Box Office Best of Summer so Far

The "Pirates of the Caribbean 4" box office is already pretty good through Friday. The opening weekend should be able to easily pass $100 million in total, especially after grabbing an estimated $35 million on Friday. These aren't numbers that predict the best showing for a "Pirates" film in theaters, but it could still end up somewhere in the top 10 for summer releases.

According to Box Office Mojo, "Pirates 4" took the box office on Friday with a huge lead over the other films. There aren't any more major releases for the weekend of May 20-22, allowing it a clear path to the lead though. Second place for Friday was "Bridesmaids" with $6.4 million, followed by "Thor" at $4.4 million and "Fast Five" at $3.2 million. Rounding out the top five was "Priest" at $3.2 million, hitting some totals that aren't all that impressive for the science-fiction thriller.

"Priest" has only been able to generate an estimated $20.5 million since hitting theaters, far behind "Fast Five," which is probably going to hit $200 million before its run comes to an end. "Thor" has also managed a nice $134.3 million, giving it a strong second-place standing in the movies that have come out for the late spring and summer movie season. There are films like "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "Cars 2," and "Harry Potter 8" still to come though, so those numbers are going to be easily be passed by some of the bigger box office sequels on the horizon.

For the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, it will be very hard for "On Stranger Tides" to compete with the hauls that the first three films had in theaters. According to Box Office Mojo, only one of the movies should be surpassed by "On Stranger Tides" in the opening weekend. When "The Curse of the Black Pearl" came out in 2003, it made $46.6 million during its opening weekend; on the way to a $305.4 million haul. Pretty good overall, but the sequels surpassed it quite easily.

The buzz for "Dead Man's Chest" was huge in the summer of 2006, helping to propel the film to an opening weekend of $135.6 million and a combined box office total of $423.3 million. "At World's End" brought in $114.7 million during its opening weekend, and a total of $309.4 million overall. The numbers for "At World's End" might be attainable for "On Stranger Tide," but it could all depend on the word-of-mouth, and whether audiences come to enjoy the latest chapter of the Jack Sparrow saga.