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.

Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic) Fri, Sep. 14 - Sun, Sep. 16

Wide (1000+)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Resident Evil: Retribution$21,100,000--3,012--$7,005$21,100,0001Sony / Screen Gems
2Finding Nemo 3D$17,504,000--2,904--$6,028$17,504,0001Disney
3The Possession$5,800,000-38%2,86026$2,028$41,167,1123Lionsgate
4Lawless$4,219,000-30%3,063-75$1,377$30,140,7543Weinstein Company
5ParaNorman$3,039,464-28%2,326-530$1,307$49,335,7105Focus
6The Expendables 2$3,030,000-39%2,896-364$1,046$80,289,9795Lionsgate
7The Words$2,880,000-39%2,8010$1,028$9,159,8852CBS Films
8The Bourne Legacy$2,875,000-28%2,170-596$1,325$107,816,6606Universal
9The Odd Life of Timothy Green$2,511,000-31%2,415-302$1,040$46,284,6485Disney
10The Campaign$2,405,000-29%2,002-540$1,201$82,857,1566Warner Bros.
11The Dark Knight Rises$2,140,000-34%1,581-406$1,354$441,010,6299Warner Bros.
122016: Obama's America$2,031,186-39%1,876-141$1,083$30,080,25310Rocky Mountain Pictures
13Hope Springs (2012)$1,800,000-36%1,946-491$925$60,450,1016Sony / Columbia
14Last Ounce of Courage$1,708,460--1,407--$1,214$1,708,4601Rocky Mountain Pictures
15Premium Rush$1,250,000-46%1,339-843$934$18,813,8724Sony / Columbia
16The Cold Light of Day$840,000-54%1,5110$556$3,272,1842Lionsgate / Summit

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Arbitrage$2,069,770--197--$10,506$2,069,7701Roadside Attractions
2Ice Age: Continental Drift$565,000-32%541-222$1,044$157,877,08210Fox
3Marvel's The Avengers$545,000-31%442-767$1,233$622,168,21920Disney
4Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days$500,000-39%591-340$846$47,332,7877Fox
5Robot & Frank$428,450-15%2097$2,050$2,623,3555IDP/Samuel Goldwyn
6Sleepwalk With Me$417,00049%11845$3,534$1,336,3434IFC Films
7Indiana Jones and The Raiders of the Lost Ark: The IMAX Experience$400,000-76%32255$1,242$2,835,3692Paramount
8Ted (2012)$393,000-28%411-104$956$217,446,76012Universal
9Hit and Run$376,539-65%651-1159$578$13,333,2204Open Road
10Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted$305,000-20%306-39$997$215,620,22815Paramount / DreamWorks
11For A Good Time, Call...$271,31926%10751$2,536$816,3513Focus
12The Intouchables$263,000-13%180-14$1,461$11,949,57517Weinstein Company
13Beasts of the Southern Wild$256,000-29%212-57$1,208$10,673,43312Fox Searchlight
14Stolen (2012)$203,686--141--$1,445$203,6861Millennium Entertainment
15Moonrise Kingdom$195,978-15%157-43$1,248$44,937,56117Focus
16Step Up Revolution$195,0002%26870$728$34,728,0608Lionsgate / Summit
17Celeste and Jesse Forever$155,666-56%152-289$1,024$2,913,4117Sony Pictures Classics
18Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection$110,000-23%160-7$688$65,629,79712Lionsgate

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1The Master$729,745--5--$145,949$729,7451Weinstein Company
2Samsara$241,20524%6237$3,890$826,7964Oscilloscope
3Searching For Sugar Man$112,524-2%341$3,310$1,054,2318Sony Pictures Classics
4To Rome with Love$78,250-27%85-12$921$16,439,60513Sony Pictures Classics
5The Imposter$58,237-15%303$1,941$675,94110Indomina Releasing
6Liberal Arts$30,000--4--$7,500$30,0001IFC Films
7Bangkok Revenge$25,000--22--$1,136$25,0001China Lion Film
8Chicken With Plums$24,096151%1712$1,417$144,0675Sony Pictures Classics
910 Years$23,326--3--$7,775$23,3261Anchor Bay Films
10Bernie$12,472-5%10-8$1,247$9,204,48921Millennium Entertainment
11Hello I Must Be Going$9,480-60%20$4,740$41,0192Oscilloscope
12Somewhere Between$8,692--1--$8,692$25,5474Long Shot Factory
13The Bullet Vanishes$6,500-71%4-9$1,625$109,1723China Lion Film
14Little Birds$4,031230%21$2,016$16,5943Millenium Entertainment
15Nitro Circus The Movie 3D$1,900-81%7-15$271$3,367,7446ARC Entertainment