A saga about buccaneers and freebooters would seem ideal macho movie fare, but the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel seems to have formidable "chick flick" drawing power, thanks to the roguish charms of Johnny Depp.
According to a survey by Fandango.com, a movie and entertainment website that sells tickets to theaters representing more than 15,000 movie screens, 75 percent of the moviegoers to "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" are female.
Only 30 percent of those surveyed said that the top reason they planned to see "Pirates" was to goggle and peer at the film's sightly leading lady, Keira Knightley.
Even second banana Orlando Bloom outpolled Knightley; 40 percent of those surveyed said that the pretty boy was the chief reason for buying a ticket to the movie, according to Fandango.
But Bloom is small beer compared to the swashbuckling Depp, whose Hollywood star power can seemingly outdazzle galaxies and distant suns.
According to Fandango, 72 percent of respondents in its survey said the top reason to buy a ticket to "Pirates of the Caribbean" is to see Depp reprise his jolly roger role of Captain Jack Sparrow.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
