Predicting The 20 Highest Grossing Movies Of 2017

3. Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Prediction: $1 billion

Jack Sparrow is back to mince his way through another swash-buckling adventure in which literally none of the plot or the other characters matter because he's stealing every scene.

Why It's Golden

The franchise has already broken the billion dollar barrier twice (and very nearly a third time), with only the first film failing to take more than $900m. That should continue as the strength of the brand - and particularly the brand of Jack Sparrow continue to be strong.

They've actually added good talent to the cast too, particularly in Javier Bardem, and it's a big tentpole for Disney, so their marketing team should be turned right on to it when it's about to hit cinemas. The return of Orlando Bloom's Will Turner should be a boost too.

Will It Be Any Good?

Based on the first trilogy, it's probably 50/50, as there were some ropier elements as the series continued. The fourth film - though the most lucrative - was also the worst, despite some good moments.

Hopefully the not-very-well-known directors (best known probably from the Marco Polo TV series) will be strong enough not to let Johnny Depp go completely over-board with his mugging.

The story centring on ghost pirates sounds a winner (it has been before, after all), and Bardem is great, so there should be some hope at least.