Grosses

'Star Trek Into Darkness' Takes First, But Opens Below PredecessorMay 20, 2013 11:48 AM

by Daniel Garris

Paramount's Star Trek Into Darkness opened in first place this weekend with $70.17 million. However, the second installment of the re-launched sci-fi series opened significantly below wide-spread expectations, including those of the studio. Star Trek Into Darkness also failed to match the $75.20 million opening weekend take of 2009's Star Trek (which bumps up to $79.20 million when including the $4 million that film earned from late night Thursday screenings). While a sequel opening slightly below its predecessor isn't the end of the world, it is especially underwhelming in this case given that Star Trek Into Darkness had the added advantage of higher priced 3D admissions this time around and was following in the footsteps of a very well received previous film.

With an additional $13.54 million on Thursday (which included $2 million from Wednesday night IMAX showings), Star Trek Into Darkness has grossed $83.70 million through four days of release. The last minute release date change clearly hurt the film's Thursday performance, which made the film's weekend performance even that more important. Through four days of release, Star Trek Into Darkness is running 3.5 percent behind the $86.71 million take of Star Trek, 33 percent behind the $125.18 million four-day start of 2008's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and 50 percent stronger than the $55.93 million four-day take of 2009's Terminator Salvation.

Within the softer than expected start, there were some promising signs for Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend. On the heels of Friday's $21.62 million performance, the film did increase a healthy 25 percent on Saturday to gross $26.95 million and generated an opening weekend to Friday ratio of 3.24 to 1. The film's A rating on CinemaScore was also an encouraging early sign. With that said, holding up well going forward will be no easy task for the film given the upcoming competition it will soon be facing from Universal's Fast & Furious 6, Warner's The Hangover Part III and to a lesser extent Sony's After Earth. The upcoming competition from Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III likely had an effect on Star Trek Into Darkness already this weekend, as moviegoers anticipating either or both of those films may have simply decided to pass on Star Trek Into Darkness. The continued strength of Disney's Iron Man 3 certainly isn't helping matters for Star Trek Into Darkness either.

It should be noted that Star Trek Into Darkness is performing stronger than its predecessor overseas. After grossing $40 million this weekend, Star Trek Into Darkness has grossed $80.5 million to date overseas. That places the early global total for Star Trek Into Darkness at $164.2 million.

Iron Man 3 fell 51 percent to place in second this weekend with $35.77 million. Given the new competition Iron Man 3 faced from Star Trek Into Darkness, this weekend's hold was quite respectable. It could also be a sign of the blockbuster superhero sequel being able to display solid holding power going forward, even in the face of increased competition. In comparison, 2010's Iron Man 2 fell 49 percent in its third weekend to gross $26.36 million, while last year's Marvel's The Avengers fell 46 percent to take in $55.64 million. Iron Man 3 has grossed a terrific $337.66 million through 17 days of release. That places the film 34.5 percent ahead of the $251.03 million 17-day take of Iron Man 3 and 26 percent behind the $457.67 million 17-day gross of The Avengers.

Iron Man 3 added $40.2 million to its overseas haul this weekend. That brings the film's overseas total to $736.2 million and current global haul to a mighty $1.074 billion.

Warner's The Great Gatsby displayed respectable holding power as well this weekend. The Baz Luhrmann directed film starring Leonardo DiCaprio fell 52 percent to place in third with $23.94 million. The Great Gatsby continues to exceed expectations with a ten-day start of $90.68 million. That places The Great Gatsby 20 percent ahead of the $75.54 million ten-day take of 2010's Shutter Island (which fell 45 percent in its second weekend to gross $22.67 million). Going forward, The Great Gatsby will hope to continue to serve as an alternative to the early summer's action fare.

The Great Gatsby launched overseas this weekend; grossing $43.0 million from 49 foreign territories. That places the film's current global haul at $133.7 million.

Weekend Actuals (Domestic) Fri, Dec. 23 - Sun, Dec. 25

Wide (1000+)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol$29,556,629131%3,4483023$8,572$61,993,0902Paramount
2Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows$20,270,555-49%3,7030$5,474$79,024,1772Warner Bros.
3The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)$12,768,604--2,914--$4,382$21,145,0771Sony / Columbia
4Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked$12,585,192-46%3,73411$3,370$49,525,3792Fox
5The Adventures of Tintin$9,720,993--3,087--$3,149$17,729,0161Paramount
6We Bought a Zoo$9,360,434--3,117--$3,003$9,818,9201Fox
7War Horse$7,515,402--2,376--$3,163$7,515,4021Disney / DreamWorks
8New Year's Eve$3,313,739-55%2,585-920$1,282$32,650,9343Warner Bros. / New Line
9The Darkest Hour$3,000,000--2,324--$1,291$3,000,0001Summit
10The Muppets$2,145,762-39%1,752-1056$1,225$75,702,2875Disney
11Hugo$2,131,828-43%1,236-1296$1,725$43,759,0975Paramount
12Arthur Christmas$2,073,319-42%1,804-1125$1,149$43,541,3215Sony / Columbia
13The Sitter$1,739,165-62%1,786-966$974$22,227,3673Fox
14The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1$1,466,306-65%1,603-1355$915$270,268,2076Lionsgate / Summit

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1The Descendants$2,073,371-37%813-65$2,550$32,364,9236Fox Searchlight
2Young Adult$1,746,450-49%9871$1,769$7,155,8983Paramount
3Don 2$1,673,704--161--$10,396$1,731,8381Reliance Big Entertainment
4The Artist$883,063207%167150$5,288$2,381,4935Weinstein Company
5My Week with Marilyn$561,097-5%602358$932$6,980,2935Weinstein Company
6Puss in Boots (2011)$410,577-12%389-368$1,055$143,661,7749Paramount / DreamWorks
7Happy Feet Two$219,513-80%535-1245$410$59,852,1556Warner Bros.
8Jack and Jill$185,706-85%385-1525$482$71,256,3257Sony / Columbia
9J. Edgar$142,139-63%455-248$312$36,054,4097Warner Bros.
10Tower Heist$137,255-85%283-1032$485$76,250,1708Universal
11Real Steel$136,96970%22772$603$83,962,78412Disney / DreamWorks
12Immortals$120,959-86%228-988$531$82,364,5817Relativity Media
13Moneyball$114,35251%242144$473$74,506,05914Sony / Columbia
14A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas$111,972-36%24543$457$34,646,1588Warner Bros. / New Line
15Courageous$90,524-12%19291$471$33,684,29213Sony / TriStar
16Dolphin Tale$76,093-61%188-93$405$71,587,24914Warner Bros.
17In Time$44,941-72%131-142$343$36,867,9499Fox
18The Ides of March$44,098-3%14573$304$40,647,23112Sony / Columbia
19Footloose (2011)$42,762-65%182-71$235$51,437,38411Paramount
20Paranormal Activity 3$30,058-67%124-82$242$103,878,05710Paramount

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy$717,45957%5539$13,045$1,819,0413Focus
2A Dangerous Method$197,23031%5841$3,401$993,4575Sony Pictures Classics
3Shame$123,574-60%50-1$2,471$1,530,9914Fox Searchlight
4Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close$72,348--6--$12,058$72,3481Warner Bros.
5Pina$68,012--3--$22,671$68,0121IFC Films
6The Polar Express (2011 re-issue)$59,004-46%20-5$2,950$624,3465Warner Bros.
7Carnage (2011)$58,216-27%72$8,317$175,8712Sony Pictures Classics
8Melancholia$41,168-69%66-65$624$2,376,1487Magnolia Pictures
9Hubble 3D$33,770-7%15-5$2,251$30,166,13793Warner Bros. / IMAX
10Born to Be Wild 3D$32,178-44%490$657$14,876,31638Warner Bros. / IMAX
11The Way$27,270-66%27-66$1,010$4,052,91212Producers Distribution Agency
12Margin Call$20,911-79%30-91$697$5,186,35010Roadside Attractions
13The Help$19,974-72%65-91$307$169,410,75220Disney / DreamWorks
14In the Land of Blood and Honey$18,854--3--$6,285$18,8541FilmDistrict
15The Skin I Live In$14,886-71%34-37$438$2,991,66311Sony Pictures Classics
16Drive (2011)$11,879-72%26-30$457$34,787,20415FilmDistrict
17Midnight in Paris$11,450-79%28-88$409$56,334,39632Sony Pictures Classics
18Like Crazy$11,000-81%30-70$367$3,341,8679Paramount Vantage
19Sea Rex: Journey To A Prehistoric World$9,8721%90$1,097$4,448,826853D Entertainment
20Under the Sea 3D$8,686-5%102$869$30,231,587150Warner Bros. / IMAX
21The Three Musketeers (2011)$8,207-84%37-86$222$20,358,12010Summit
22Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey$8,189-41%135$630$230,34210Submarine Deluxe
23My Reincarnation$6,15197%52$1,230$45,4489Long Shot Factory
24Martha Marcy May Marlene$6,088-72%18-21$338$2,889,38310Fox Searchlight
25The Women on the 6th Floor$5,883-69%6-6$981$443,00712Strand Releasing
26Take Shelter$5,192-81%24-34$216$1,652,61613Sony Pictures Classics
2750/50$3,694-90%31-80$119$35,003,81213Summit
28The Lion King 3D$2,585-89%10-22$259$94,219,87115Disney
29Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness$2,483215%54$497$841,18025International Film Circuit
30Miss Minoes (2011 re-issue)$1,901--3--$634$1,9011Music Box Films
31Addiction Incorporated$1,564-4%10$1,564$6,4422Variance Films
32Sleeping Beauty (2011)$1,556-66%3-1$519$33,9474IFC Films
33Eames: The Architect and the Painter$1,478-74%5-1$296$130,5076First Run Features
34Blackthorn$1,463-68%5-4$293$185,09912Magnolia Pictures
35The Guard$1,380-78%6-6$230$5,330,29422Sony Pictures Classics
36Mozart's Sister$1,260-87%3-7$420$676,37319Music Box Films
37Outrage$1,105-64%1-6$1,105$29,1504Magnolia / Magnet
38The Mill and the Cross$1,027-2%30$342$262,18815Kino Lorber
39Into the Abyss$939-85%3-14$313$221,4887IFC Films
40Rid of Me$833-50%10$833$7,2886Submarine Entertainment
41I Melt With You$77716%1-1$777$5,9903Magnolia Pictures
42Elite Squad: The Enemy Within$562-89%2-5$281$83,4727Variance Films
43El Bulli: Cooking in Progress$472-71%1-1$472$195,30722Alive Mind Cinema
44Higher Ground$455-46%52$91$837,57118Sony Pictures Classics
45Jane's Journey$397-60%21$199$21,54915First Run Features
46Young Goethe In Love$344-95%2-6$172$98,5458Music Box Films
47Crazy Wisdom$323-95%1-3$323$43,7425Alive Mind Cinema
48The Whale$290-72%10$290$58,72816Paladin
49Tyrannosaur$288--1--$288$15,7356Strand Releasing
50Inni$165-71%10$165$116,5639Cinema Purgatorio
51OKA!$100--1--$100$13,09911Dada Films