"Ahoy" doesn’t mean "mahalo," but it will come close when Hollywood mogul Jerry Bruck­hei­mer holds a private advance screening of the new "Pirates" movie as a way to thank the Hawaii-based cast, crew and government workers who helped turn out the blockbuster.

The special screening of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" will be held in an undisclosed theater a few days prior to the May 20 nationwide release.

The production spent about eight months on Kauai and Oahu last year.

"The folks in both Kauai and Oahu who worked behind and in front of the cameras gave their full measure of aloha and heart to the production, and the screening is just my and director Rob Marshall’s way of saying ‘mahalo’ for their fantastic work," said Bruck­hei­mer, the film’s producer, in an email. "Having now shot scenes from ‘Pearl Harbor,’ ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’ and now ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’ on four different islands in Hawaii, I think that it has some of the most talented and most dedicated film workers I’ve encountered."

THE BOX OFFICE success of "Soul Surfer," which earned more than $29.6 million in its first three weeks, hasn’t surprised director Sean Mc­Na­mara, who predicted it will easily earn twice that much by early summer.

"I think it is going to break $50 million," Mc­Na­mara said by telephone from L.A. "We’re still on our way. We are not even halfway through what I think this film will make."

The film about Kauai surfer Bethany Hamilton — which was shot in Hawaii last year — opened April 8 with an $10.6 million weekend and has continued to attract audiences, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks ticket sales.

McNamara figures "Soul Surfer," which cost $18 million, will have about an eight-week run.

"I am just thrilled," Mc­Na­mara said. "It’s doing amazing."

WHEN a "mysterious and threatening" stranger shows up on Thursday’s episode of the NBC series "Community," it shouldn’t startle anyone to learn it’s Josh Holloway. He spent six seasons as the mysterious and wise-cracking Sawyer on ABC’s "Lost," which shot in Hawaii.

In this episode that airs at 7 p.m. on KHNL, the students at Greendale Community College are celebrating the end of the school year with a picnic and a supposedly safe game of paintball.

Then, with the game heating up, Holloway arrives. Suddenly everything isn’t what it seems.

Should be fun to watch — as long as no one flashbacks to another network.

TY SANGA’S short film "Stones," which was done entirely in Hawaiian, will be featured at the Cannes Film Festival’s Short Film Corner when the prestigious event kicks off next week in the south of France. It might be the first-ever Hawaiian language film to screen at the festival.

"Stones," which screened earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival, was part of Sanga’s graduate thesis at the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University in California and included a crew of classmates.

"Ideally, when you make short films, you just want to get a lot of exposure so you can parlay that into feature films," said the 30-year-old Sanga. "This has been great exposure for us."

But Sanga himself will miss the exposure; a previously scheduled commitment means he can’t attend.

AND that’s a wrap …

Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Reach him at 529-4803 or at mgordon@staradvertiser.com.