Grosses

'Star Trek Into Darkness' Leads Weekend, But Opens Below PredecessorMay 19, 2013 08:51 AM

by Daniel Garris

Paramount's Star Trek Into Darkness opened in first place this weekend with an estimated $70.56 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.

After grossing an additional $13.54 million on Thursday (which included $2 million from Wednesday night IMAX showings), Star Trek Into Darkness has grossed $84.09 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 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 $22.06 million performance, the film did increase a healthy 25 percent on Saturday to gross $27.5 million and is estimated to have an opening weekend to Friday ratio of 3.20 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 $164.6 million.

Iron Man 3 fell 51 percent to place in second this weekend with an estimated $35.18 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 $337.07 million through 17 days of release. That places the film 34 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 $1.073 billion.

Warner's The Great Gatsby displayed respectable holding power as well this weekend. The Baz Luhrmann directed film starring Leonardo DiCaprio fell 53 percent to place in third with an estimated $23.42 million. The Great Gatsby continues to exceed expectations with a ten-day start of $90.16 million. That places The Great Gatsby 19 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 various action fare.

The Great Gatsby launched overseas this weekend; grossing $42.1 million from 49 foreign territories. That places the film's current global haul at $132.3 million.

Weekend Actuals (Domestic) Fri, Jan. 13 - Sun, Jan. 15

Wide (1000+)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Contraband$24,349,815--2,863--$8,505$24,349,8151Universal
2Beauty and the Beast 3D$17,751,905--2,625--$6,763$17,751,9051Disney
3Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol$11,686,617-41%3,346-209$3,493$186,933,4065Paramount
4Joyful Noise$11,225,190--2,735--$4,104$11,225,1901Warner Bros.
5Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows$8,592,657-37%3,155-448$2,724$170,192,3015Warner Bros.
6The Devil Inside$8,028,439-76%2,551266$3,147$46,375,2862Paramount
7The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)$6,660,907-41%2,674-276$2,491$87,841,7564Sony / Columbia
8War Horse$5,923,128-32%2,85673$2,074$66,095,0914Disney / DreamWorks
9Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked$5,893,831-38%2,849-576$2,069$118,875,1195Fox
10We Bought a Zoo$5,560,781-33%2,909-261$1,912$64,049,3154Fox
11The Adventures of Tintin$4,035,024-40%2,073-933$1,946$67,740,2304Paramount
12The Darkest Hour$1,079,299-65%1,182-981$913$20,528,4734Summit
13New Year's Eve$1,038,854-67%1,092-772$951$53,692,9816Warner Bros. / New Line

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1The Iron Lady$5,412,9342969%802797$6,749$6,000,5553Weinstein Company
2Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy$3,194,172-42%88677$3,605$15,136,7126Focus
3The Descendants$2,100,256-19%660-77$3,182$47,104,4529Fox Searchlight
4The Artist$1,193,1807%21644$5,524$8,789,9598Weinstein Company
5Hugo$1,046,468-35%545-298$1,920$54,163,1238Paramount
6The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1$769,314-48%708-350$1,087$279,638,9999Lionsgate / Summit
7Carnage (2011)$710,434550%494479$1,438$1,296,8995Sony Pictures Classics
8The Muppets$573,868-58%547-689$1,049$86,409,3968Disney
9Young Adult$525,883-59%387-443$1,359$15,705,9806Paramount
10The Sitter$513,022-56%449-309$1,143$29,650,2556Fox
11A Dangerous Method$499,57279%10440$4,804$2,686,7648Sony Pictures Classics
12Happy Feet Two$484,199113%36580$1,327$61,898,3439Warner Bros.
13My Week with Marilyn$471,276-43%400-184$1,178$11,344,9868Weinstein Company
14Puss in Boots (2011)$413,017-30%316-35$1,307$147,150,14412Paramount / DreamWorks
15Jack and Jill$413,012156%298127$1,386$72,424,31810Sony / Columbia
16Tower Heist$241,800-20%260-35$930$77,539,10511Universal
17Immortals$164,65284%18759$880$83,059,93410Relativity Media
18Real Steel$141,579-31%187-26$757$85,054,19315Disney / DreamWorks
19Courageous$88,040-45%116-75$759$34,434,96716Sony / TriStar
20Moneyball$78,478-53%128-103$613$75,421,17117Sony / Columbia
21In Time$75,353-35%106-26$711$37,359,99612Fox

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Shame$144,208-31%41-4$3,517$2,626,6317Fox Searchlight
2Pina$124,43850%63$20,740$556,6314IFC Films
3Born to Be Wild 3D$104,17719%450$2,315$15,482,79941Warner Bros. / IMAX
4Pariah (2011)$101,815-7%2413$4,242$374,1843Focus
5Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close$91,029-8%60$15,172$635,5454Warner Bros.
6Vettai$87,921--34--$2,586$87,9211UTV Communications
7Melancholia$78,282-10%676$1,168$2,823,03810Magnolia Pictures
8A Separation$71,864-22%60$11,977$313,8873Sony Pictures Classics
9J. Edgar$55,256-50%82-70$674$36,974,52210Warner Bros.
10Hubble 3D$47,85831%202$2,393$30,652,59396Warner Bros. / IMAX
11In the Land of Blood and Honey$44,09237%1811$2,450$149,7354FilmDistrict
12We Need to Talk About Kevin$42,245--2--$21,123$81,5426Oscilloscope
13Dolphin Tale$40,359-58%91-58$444$72,228,57517Warner Bros.
14Don 2$37,384--28--$1,335$3,651,6994Reliance Big Entertainment
15The Way$33,401-40%40-10$835$4,326,02215Producers Distribution Agency
16Sea Rex: Journey To A Prehistoric World$29,64555%90$3,294$4,535,792883D Entertainment
17Drive (2011)$28,827-49%322$901$34,966,21618FilmDistrict
18Under the Sea 3D$24,45416%90$2,717$30,392,596153Warner Bros. / IMAX
19The Skin I Live In$21,193-2%31-11$684$3,121,86714Sony Pictures Classics
20Margin Call$15,187-51%20-10$759$5,326,46713Roadside Attractions
21The Help$14,781-48%28-22$528$169,582,98723Disney / DreamWorks
22The Women on the 6th Floor$13,650-28%6-5$2,275$515,34715Strand Releasing
23Sing Your Song$13,459--2--$6,730$13,4591S2BN Films
24Sophomore$13,097--1--$13,097$13,0971Undefined
25Once Upon a Time in Anatolia$10,8962%10$10,896$31,8722Cinema Guild
26Midnight in Paris$10,083-34%15-6$672$56,424,56635Sony Pictures Classics
27Martha Marcy May Marlene$8,779-36%150$585$2,951,96213Fox Searchlight
28Take Shelter$6,337-43%14-7$453$1,705,34816Sony Pictures Classics
29The Mill and the Cross$4,786--5--$957$276,14118Kino Lorber
30Newlyweds$4,584--1--$4,584$4,5841Tribeca Films
31Santa Mesa$3,846--3--$1,282$3,8461Indican Pictures
32Man on a Mission$3,430--4--$858$3,4301First Run Features
33The Guard$3,201-3%110$291$5,346,59925Sony Pictures Classics
34Mozart's Sister$2,984-37%60$497$702,34422Music Box Films
35Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey$2,956-68%4-5$739$267,96513Submarine Deluxe
36Domain$2,810--1--$2,810$2,8101Strand Releasing
37Blackthorn$2,65780%51$531$193,95715Magnolia Pictures
38Young Goethe In Love$2,551-54%3-4$850$113,86111Music Box Films
39The Conquest$2,547-56%5-1$509$173,67010Music Box Films
40Sholem Aleichem: Laughing in the Darkness$2,468--1--$2,468$848,90328International Film Circuit
41Addiction Incorporated$2,223--1--$2,223$9,2865Variance Films
42My Reincarnation$2,121-55%30$707$66,62912Long Shot Factory
43Crazy Wisdom$1,934204%21$967$47,1088Alive Mind Cinema
44Outrage$1,777-52%5-2$355$39,6317Magnolia / Magnet
45Elite Squad: The Enemy Within$1,64574%2-1$823$91,60710Variance Films
46Tomboy (2011)$1,45618%54$291$100,0579Dada Films
47The Whale$1,109-69%30$370$66,42119Paladin
48El Bulli: Cooking in Progress$1,108-70%10$1,108$210,36625Alive Mind Cinema
49Garbo: The Spy$1,051-55%20$526$26,8389First Run Features
50Roadie (2010)$864-68%10$864$4,8712Magnolia Pictures
51Loosies$808--1--$808$2,4861IFC Films
52Pianomania$808--1--$808$48,13634First Run Features
53Charlotte Rampling: The Look$641--2--$321$13,46611Kino Lorber
54Jane's Journey$524-29%10$524$25,38318First Run Features
55Inni$446-89%1-3$446$124,18812Cinema Purgatorio
56Battleship Potemkin (2011 re-issue)$444--1--$444$50,97053Kino International
57Khodorkovsky$417-26%10$417$29,5527Kino Lorber
58The Man Nobody Knew$369-74%10$369$173,46217First Run Features
59Hell and Back Again$341-72%1-1$341$37,20915Docurama Films
60Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow$145--1--$145$46,83423Lorber Films