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.

Daily Domestic Gross Mon, Jul. 4 2011

Wide (1000+)

#TitleMon, Jul. 4 2011LocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Transformers: Dark of the Moon$18,033,185-41%4,088--$4,411$180,651,3971Paramount / DreamWorks
2Cars 2$5,356,308-39%4,1150$1,302$122,560,3102Disney
3Larry Crowne$3,002,730-30%2,973--$1,010$16,098,7951Universal
4Bad Teacher$2,754,942-44%3,0490$904$62,707,5052Sony / Columbia
5Super 8$1,604,911-42%3,088-336$520$110,070,1564Paramount
6Green Lantern$1,371,564-39%3,280-536$418$103,616,4603Warner Bros.
7Mr. Popper's Penguins$1,164,984-40%2,861-481$407$51,727,6623Fox
8Monte Carlo$1,134,374-41%2,473--$459$8,588,3181Fox
9Bridesmaids$708,390-45%1,389-642$510$153,728,8808Universal
10X-Men: First Class$666,710-36%1,602-1031$416$139,329,3555Fox
11Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides$438,564-41%1,473-771$298$234,176,9657Disney
12Kung Fu Panda 2$421,907-30%1,281-1246$329$157,281,3966Paramount / DreamWorks
13The Hangover Part II$407,657-51%1,568-1187$260$248,651,2726Warner Bros.

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleMon, Jul. 4 2011LocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Midnight in Paris$802,415--858--$935$34,582,4547Sony Pictures Classics
2The Tree of Life$238,816-42%22813$1,047$7,810,5926Fox Searchlight
3Beginners$142,359-39%10835$1,318$2,506,9365Focus
4Buck$120,453--131--$919$1,131,8313IFC Films
5Rio (2011)$95,573-30%308-36$310$140,575,08212Fox
6Thor$70,517-38%270-134$261$177,988,1009Paramount
7Fast Five$58,890-47%302-156$195$208,362,55010Universal
8Soul Surfer$38,711-18%205--$189$43,439,16213Sony / TriStar
9Water for Elephants$35,244-35%234-58$151$58,061,51111Fox
10Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer$29,358-34%221-670$133$13,966,3454Relativity Media
11Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family$24,712-32%14094$177$53,035,90211Lionsgate
12The Lincoln Lawyer$20,591-30%138-51$149$57,806,71416Lionsgate
13Something Borrowed$19,612-36%191-112$103$38,696,8859Warner Bros.
14Rango$18,962-35%117-39$162$123,207,19418Paramount

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleMon, Jul. 4 2011LocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Delhi Belly$119,881-42%89--$1,347$701,8241UTV Communications
2Born to Be Wild 3D$57,447-32%470$1,222$8,257,30313Warner Bros. / IMAX
3The Trip (2011)$37,147--40--$929$801,7824IFC Films
4Hubble 3D$32,769-19%330$993$26,330,26768Warner Bros. / IMAX
5Page One: Inside the New York Times$30,796--38--$810$269,4203Magnolia Pictures
6Cave of Forgotten Dreams$25,820--60--$430$4,659,51210IFC Films
7A Better Life$23,256-37%117$2,114$204,6822Summit
8Incendies$13,309--42--$317$6,544,70611Sony Pictures Classics
9Terri$13,154--6--$2,192$78,2571IDP/ATO Pictures
10Double Dhamaal$12,716-60%41--$310$490,5392Reliance Big Pictures
11The Names of Love$8,627--8--$1,078$79,9052Music Box Films
12The Double Hour$8,542--25--$342$1,308,10812IDP/Samuel Goldwyn
13Source Code$8,156-31%66-40$124$54,649,14314Summit
14Insidious$8,000-46%70-4$114$53,620,26314FilmDistrict
15Conan O'Brien Can't Stop$7,197--17--$423$190,6202Abramorama
16Trollhunter$7,135--21--$340$111,6144Magnolia / Magnet
17Queen to Play$6,856--10--$686$378,95714Zeitgeist Films
18Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil$6,554-35%68-46$96$10,063,27010Weinstein Company
19Bride Flight$6,510--18--$362$238,1254Music Box Films
20Beginning of the Great Revival$6,499--23--$283$132,3782China Lion Film
21Submarine$5,566-46%20-6$278$347,5905Weinstein Company
22In a Better World$5,143--28--$184$905,54014Sony Pictures Classics
23African Cats$4,771--30--$159$15,383,68711Disneynature
24Limitless$4,545-41%55-30$83$79,235,46816Relativity Media
25Bill Cunningham New York$4,208--11--$383$1,373,73516Zeitgeist Films
26Passione: A Musical Adventure$3,774--2--$1,887$55,0322Abramorama
27Hanna$3,741-35%34-25$110$40,247,51213Focus
2813 Assassins$3,714--22--$169$746,12710Magnolia / Magnet
29Jane Eyre (2011)$2,913-40%26-25$112$11,213,16117Focus
30Summer (2011 re-issue)$2,903--1--$2,903$20,1874The Film Desk
31Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules$2,616-27%31-27$84$52,673,97915Fox
32Turtle: The Incredible Journey$2,430--16--$152$138,4112Hannover House
33The Conspirator$2,1698%15--$145$11,503,70212Roadside Attractions
34Love Etc.$2,059--2--$1,030$10,8401Paladin
35Win Win$2,021-56%18-14$112$10,145,70716Fox Searchlight
36The Perfect Host$1,883--2--$942$9,3881Magnolia Pictures
37Meek's Cutoff$1,434--15--$96$895,70513Oscilloscope
38The Man Who Fell to Earth (2011 re-issue)$1,263--2--$632$19,4992Rialto Pictures
39Rejoice and Shout$1,155--6--$193$56,8945Magnolia Pictures
40The First Grader$1,112--7--$159$326,8038National Geographic
41I Am (2011)$1,104--7--$158$1,571,35520Paladin
42Winter in Wartime$970--4--$243$527,23116Sony Pictures Classics
43Crime After Crime$915--1--$915$4,1301mTuckman Media
44Everything Must Go$833-71%19-14$44$2,649,3458Roadside Attractions
45The Four Times (Le Quattro Volte)$814--2--$407$138,20414Lorber Films
46Leap Year (2011)$644--2--$322$7,6112Strand Releasing
47Aurora$613--1--$613$3,6161Cinema Guild
48Road to Nowhere$578--4--$145$25,5794Monterey Media
4935 and Ticking$571-25%21$286$79,4877Image Entertainment
50Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune$525--1--$525$255,37326First Run Features
51The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls$501-36%1--$501$19,1388Argot Pictures
52Viva Riva!$480--5--$96$39,3114Music Box Films
53Beautiful Boy$472-45%40$118$69,4555Anchor Bay Films
54Hobo with a Shotgun$446--10--$45$684,9509Magnolia / Magnet
55The Art of Getting By$418-18%7-300$60$1,426,2573Fox Searchlight
56If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front$411--2--$206$22,5402Oscilloscope
57My Perestroika$332--4--$83$235,50915International Film Circuit
58Hey Boo: Harper Lee and To Kill A Mockingbird$283--1--$283$28,6958First Run Features
59City of Life and Death$208--3--$69$81,9488Kino International
60Of Gods and Men$202--4--$51$3,959,02919Sony Pictures Classics
61Small Town Murder Songs$197--2--$99$21,3976Monterey Media
62The Greatest Movie Ever Sold$132--3--$44$624,67911Sony Pictures Classics
63The Music Never Stopped$124-36%53$25$250,99416Roadside Attractions
64How To Live Forever$99--1--$99$37,7448Variance Films
65Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff$45--1--$45$11,9688Strand Releasing
66Korkoro$32--1--$32$8,17915Lorber Films