NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

‘Pirates’ tops box office, ‘Baywatch’ sinks

LOS ANGELES

It was smooth sailing to the top spot at the box office for “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” but the waters were choppier for the Dwayne Johnson comedy “Baywatch.”

Studio estimates on Sunday say the fifth installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise commandeered $62.2 million in its first three days in theaters.

The Johnny Depp-starrer is projected to take in $76.6 million over the four-day holiday weekend.

It was the second-lowest domestic opening for the nearly $4 billion franchise, but the latest film, which cost a reported $230 million to produce, has massive international appeal.

The R-rated “Baywatch,” meanwhile, is sinking like a rock. The critically derided update of the 1990s TV show earned only $18.1 million over the weekend against a nearly $70 million price tag. Including Thursday earnings, the film is projected to collect $26.6 million by the close of Memorial Day.

Even “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” did better in its fourth weekend. The space opera added $19.9 million to take second place ahead of “Baywatch” at the box office.

This month’s box office has also been tough on nearly every film except “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Even the decently reviewed “Alien: Covenant” dropped an uncommonly steep 71 percent in its second weekend in theaters to take fourth place with $10.5 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released today.

1.”Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales,” $62.2 million ($208.4 million international).

2.“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” $19.9 million ($8.6 million international).

3.“Baywatch,” $18.1 million.

4.“Alien: Covenant,” $10.5 million ($10.8 million international).

5.“Everything, Everything,” $6.2 million.

Cannes Palme d’Or goes to ‘The Square’

CANNES, France

The Cannes Film Festival awarded its coveted Palme d’Or award to Ruben Ostlund’s Swedish comedy “The Square” on Sunday, while Sofia Coppola became only the second woman to win the best director award.

“Oh my god! OK,” the Swedish filmmaker exclaimed after he bounded onto the stage to collect the prestigious Palme, in a rare and somewhat surprising win for a comedy.

In “The Square,” Claes Bang plays a museum director whose manicured life begins to unravel after a series of events that upset his, and the museum’s, calm equilibrium. The movie’s title comes from an art installation that Bang’s character is prepping, which invites anyone who enters a small square to be kind and generous.

The film’s satire and exploration of moral dilemmas culminated in one of the festival’s most eye-catching scenes. A muscled, grunting man pretending to be a gorilla upsets a black-tie dinner for the museum, sniffing attendees and dragging a woman by the hair.

The president of the Cannes jury, Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodovar, praised the film for exploring the “dictatorship” of political correctness and those trapped by it.

“They live in a kind of hell because of that,” Almodovar said.

“It’s clever. It’s witty. It’s funny. It deals with questions so important,” said French actress and filmmaker Agnes Jaoui, a member of the jury that also included Americans Will Smith and Jessica Chastain.

Most odds makers didn’t have “The Square” as a favorite to win the prestigious Palme d’Or, the top prize awarded at Cannes.

Coppola won best director for “The Beguiled,” her remake of Don Siegel’s 1971 Civil War drama about a Union soldier hiding out in a Southern girls’ school. Hailed as Coppola’s most feminist work yet, the remade thriller told from a more female point of view stars Nicole Kidman and Kirsten Dunst, with Colin Farrell playing the wounded soldier.

Associated Press