'Pirates' Hollywood's Summer Savior

The last day of July is a perfect time for a mid-term report card on the summer movie season, and The Early Show entertainment contributor Jess Cagle was on hand Monday to discuss how the season's films are stacking up.

Overall, receipts are up 5 percent over the same span last year, and Cagle credits "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which he says, "saved Hollywood this summer. That movie was expected to be big, because the first one was very big. That is the big winner of this summer, though. It's going to make $400 million. (It's) very rare for a movie to cross that mark."

"Pirates" has taken in $358 million so far.

And that, says Cagle, is a pleasant surprise.

"They definitely expected big things," he explains, "but that's really enormous. And also, for a movie that's 2-1/2 hours long, I mean, you can't have that many showings in a day. It really is remarkable."

Another hit? "The Devil Wears Prada."

"That's another big winner," Cagle says. "It was an inexpensive movie that has made about $106 million so far. A 'chick flick' in the summer to make over $100 million … is really amazing. And, also, it could get an Oscar nomination for Meryl Streep. She's so great as this draconian magazine editor that this poor young girl has to work for.

"Actually, anyone who goes to see it, I think is gonna like it. It's really good."

Another winner? Pixar's "Cars."

"It's not going to make as much as the biggest Pixar movies (such as 'Toy Story'), but 'Cars' will definitely be the biggest animated movie of the summer, and will probably be the No. 2 movie of the summer, right after 'Pirates,' " predicts Cagle.But a big miss of the summer has been "Poseidon."

"That is such a disaster!" Cagle says. "It's a disaster movie that was a disaster. It made about $60 million. It was very, very expensive. It has made some more overseas, so that's good. But it was a real disappointment for the studio."

Will it make back the cost of production?

"I think that, once you get through the European markets and the Asian markets and you get to the DVD, maybe it will make its money back. But it's got an uphill battle."

Another loser this summer just opened last week. "The Lady in the Water" is drowning so far, garnering only $32 million.

"It's incredibly boring," Cagle says. "It's just not a successful movie. The critics didn't like it. The audiences didn't like it. And the audiences seemed to be able to smell it, even before they went to see it because … not very many people went to see it (opening weekend). Those who did, didn't like it. It had a tremendous drop-off its second weekend, just this past weekend."

"Superman Returns" proved not quite as super as hoped, Cagle notes, saying it deserves an " 'A' for effort. A really good movie, I thought. It just didn't have enough action for the teenage audience that you needed to go see that movie over and over again. It made about $185 million, which is great. However, it was a very, very expensive movie to make."

Among those still ahead, Will Ferrell's "Talladega Nights" and Oliver Stone's "World Trade Center," with Nicholas Cage, which Cagle has heard is "very, very good."