Pirates of the Caribbean Box Office: Budget and Worldwide Totals

The five Pirates of the Caribbean films have earned about $4.52 billion worldwide, with $1.45 billion of that coming from the domestic market and $3.07 billion from international markets, adding up the Box Office Mojo figures for each film. The saga grew out of the Disneyland attraction that debuted in 1967, and it reached theaters with The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), directed by Gore Verbinski, which premiered at Disneyland on June 28, 2003 and opened in the US on July 9, 2003. Every figure below is unadjusted, so a 2003 dollar and a 2017 dollar are counted the same.

What did each film earn? Curse of the Black Pearl took $654 million worldwide on a $140 million budget, which is the cheapest production in the series by a wide margin. It earned five Oscar nominations. Dead Man's Chest, also directed by Verbinski, opened on July 7, 2006 and finished at $1.07 billion worldwide. It also won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects, and Bill Nighy played Davy Jones through motion capture.

At World's End (2007), the third Verbinski film, carried the biggest budget of the five at $300 million and grossed $961.7 million worldwide. Its $309.4 million domestic total was only a little above the first film's, and the extra money came from abroad, where it made $652.3 million. Shot back to back with its predecessor, it was the longest film in the series at 169 minutes.

On Stranger Tides (2011), directed by Rob Marshall, was the first film without Verbinski. It cost $250 million and made $1.05 billion worldwide, which puts it second in the series. Its domestic gross of $241.1 million is modest, but its $805.6 million international haul is the largest of any entry.

Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), directed by Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning, premiered in Shanghai on May 11, 2017 and opened in the US on May 26. It grossed $795.9 million worldwide on a $230 million budget, and its $172.6 million domestic total is the lowest of the five. For the full cast list behind these numbers, see Pirates of the Caribbean cast, and for the complete list of titles, see how many Pirates of the Caribbean movies there are.

In my opinion, the series is a clear hit, and no entry can fairly be called a flop. Every film grossed well above its production budget, and the lowest return still came in at roughly 3.2 times cost. Dividing worldwide gross by budget gives about 4.7 for The Curse of the Black Pearl, 4.7 for Dead Man's Chest, 3.2 for At World's End, 4.2 for On Stranger Tides and 3.5 for Dead Men Tell No Tales. Across all five films the ratio is about 3.95.

That being said, a gross is not a profit. Theaters keep a share of every ticket, and marketing costs sit outside the production budget, so the multiples above are a guide to scale rather than a ledger. At World's End is the one I would call the stretch. It cost $300 million, grossed $961.7 million, and returned less per dollar than any other film in the series. It is still a very large number, but it is the film where the cost curve caught up with the audience.

The shape of the run matters too. The Verbinski trilogy took in about $2.68 billion on budgets of $140 million, $225 million and $300 million. The last two films took in $1.05 billion and $795.9 million on budgets of $250 million and $230 million, so the trilogy returned slightly more per dollar, though the sequels held up. The notable change is where the money came from: On Stranger Tides earned about 77 percent of its gross abroad, and Dead Men Tell No Tales about 78 percent, compared with roughly 53 percent for the first film. As the domestic audience cooled, overseas markets carried the series.

What about Johnny Depp's pay? Johnny Depp was billed first in all five films, but no confirmed per film figure for his pay is quoted here. What can be stated is the scale of the productions he led, with budgets between $140 million and $300 million. For where each film sits in the series by quality rather than money, see Pirates of the Caribbean movies ranked.

What comes next? A sixth film is in development, with no release date. TheWrap reported on August 16, 2026 that producer Jerry Bruckheimer said at D23 that the team is talking with Depp and working on a screenplay. No cast or deal is confirmed. Until that changes, the totals above are the whole story, and the latest on the sequel lives on Pirates of the Caribbean 6. If you are planning a rewatch, start with Pirates of the Caribbean movies in order, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies hub links to everything else.