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, Nov. 30 - Sun, Dec. 2

Wide (1000+)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2$17,410,000-60%4,008-62$4,344$254,592,5043Lionsgate / Summit
2Skyfall$17,000,000-52%3,463-63$4,909$246,029,1894Sony / Columbia
3Lincoln$13,509,000-47%2,0180$6,694$83,698,4734Disney / DreamWorks
4Rise of The Guardians$13,500,000-43%3,67219$3,676$48,947,2532Paramount / DreamWorks
5Life of Pi$12,000,000-47%2,9281$4,098$48,361,1412Fox
6Wreck-It Ralph$7,020,000-58%3,087-172$2,274$158,256,2635Disney
7Killing Them Softly$7,000,000--2,424--$2,888$7,000,0001Weinstein Company
8Red Dawn (2012)$6,550,000-54%2,78156$2,355$31,322,7082FilmDistrict
9Flight$4,540,000-46%2,603-35$1,744$81,526,8365Paramount
10The Collection$3,409,224--1,403--$2,430$3,409,2241LD Entertainment
11Argo$2,025,000-48%1,043-212$1,942$101,005,4178Warner Bros.

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Silver Linings Playbook$3,341,000-24%3714$9,005$10,990,9813Weinstein Company
2Anna Karenina (2012)$2,229,678149%384318$5,806$4,091,0293Focus
3Talaash$1,982,913--174--$11,396$1,982,9131Reliance Entertainment
4Taken 2$470,000-51%496-267$948$137,165,5799Fox
5Pitch Perfect$411,000-43%403-89$1,020$63,123,17310Universal
6The Sessions$328,000-55%226-289$1,451$4,576,8667Fox Searchlight
7Cloud Atlas$225,000-47%194-64$1,160$26,163,1176Warner Bros.
8The Perks of Being A Wallflower$200,000-49%189-53$1,058$16,628,55911Lionsgate / Summit
9The Man With the Iron Fists$103,000-51%174-31$592$15,386,9455Universal
10Brave$95,000-49%181-9$525$237,069,22024Disney
11Alex Cross$58,000-48%114-30$509$25,491,0767Lionsgate / Summit
12ParaNorman$54,769-43%104-30$527$55,867,93416Focus
13Silent Hill: Revelation 3D$53,460-47%124-66$431$17,467,9916Open Road
14Fun Size$46,000-45%116-28$397$9,360,1756Paramount

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Hitchcock$405,53741%5033$8,111$784,4192Fox Searchlight
2Back to 1942$100,000--20--$5,000$100,0001China Lion Film
3Chasing Ice$94,2624%3013$3,142$348,9464Submarine Deluxe
4A Late Quartet$86,497-35%74-14$1,169$870,6515Entertainment One / RKO
5Hecho en Mexico$78,000--12--$6,500$78,0001Lionsgate / Pantelion
6Searching For Sugar Man$47,902-21%5310$904$2,837,51919Sony Pictures Classics
7Sinister$46,000-50%88-39$523$47,775,3278Lionsgate / Summit
8Holy Motors$35,834-22%254$1,433$333,9257Indomina Releasing
9Rust and Bone$25,823-5%20$12,912$66,1442Sony Pictures Classics
10Samsara$25,00016%253$1,000$2,525,22015Oscilloscope
11Paranormal Activity 4$25,000-53%70-38$357$53,716,7727Paramount
12End of Watch$20,500-36%24-10$854$39,224,24811Open Road
13Beware of Mr. Baker$12,505--1--$12,505$17,0581SnagFilms
14Wuthering Heights (2012)$10,000376%104$1,000$97,9539Oscilloscope
15Brooklyn Castle$4,323-73%4-4$1,081$174,1637Producers Distribution Agency
16The Imposter$2,070-58%2-3$1,035$898,25921Indomina Releasing
17The House I Live In$1,91397%10$1,913$168,9629Abramorama
1828 Hotel Rooms$1,100-23%30$367$16,0434Oscilloscope