Disney Accused of Fudging "Pirates" Numbers

5/30/2007
Irene Shih
Sony accuses Disney of including a seventh-day in its six-day box-office estimate for "Pirates."

Sony has recently hit out at what they believe to be "irregular" estimates in Walt Disney's report on a six-day, record-breaking, box-office intake for the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean.

In an unprecedented disagreement, Sony has voiced suspicions that Disney included a seventh day of earnings in a six-day estimate, thus bringing the total to $401 million, a record-setting six-day intake, defeating even numbers set by Sony's recent moneymaker, Spider-Man 3. Already, Pirates has fallen short of the Spidey flick in its three-day intake, making $112.5 million in comparison to the $151.1 million record set by Spider-Man 3 just earlier this month. And now Sony has accused it of falsely catching up.

Previews in many countries were included in the total, though Disney claims this did not affect the numbers much. Sony argues that, rolling a seventh-day into the figures, Spider-Man 3 would have grossed $418 million, defeating the $401 million Disney reported.

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