‘Star Trek Beyond’ Feels a Bit of Weak Summer Wrath
It was a bittersweet debut for Paramount’s Star Trek Beyond this weekend. While this 13th installment claimed the top spot this weekend with an estimated $59.6 million, its debut fell 20% behind that of 2013’s Star Trek Into Darkness.
Despite being the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, Beyond was not expected to surpass the opening weekends of either Star Trek ($75.2 million) or Into Darkness ($70.2 million). Fortunately for Paramount, Star Trek Beyond didn’t suffer the same sequel drops that Alice Through the Looking Glass and Independence Day: Resurgence did earlier this summer. The question remains, however, what caused the modest dip. Both Abrams films opened in May, while Star Trek Beyond debuted in a less congested July. On the plus side, Beyond has only major end-of-season players like Jason Bourne and Suicide Squad to contend with in the coming weeks, which could be beneficial in the long run. It’s not a terrible start, but finishing around $200 million might be a struggle.
After two weekends on top, Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets dropped one spot to second place. In it’s third weekend, Pets pulled in another $29.3 million, smashing through the $250 million milestone. On another note, Pets has also surpassed the original Despicable Me, which finished just over $251 million. In just a few weeks, Pets will undoubtedly become the third animated film of 2016 to pass $300 million after Zootopia and Finding Dory. The underwhelming release of Ice Age: Collision Course didn’t have that much of an effect this weekend as Pets dropped a decent 42%. The next few weeks should be smooth sailing as well without any direct competition.
Last week, the Ghostbusters remake set career highs for director Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy. And it appears that audiences are still interested in the latest take as Ghostbusters declined 53% from last weekend for another $21.6 million. In the midst of summer, that’s a fairly solid hold as the film will be aiming for $100 million by the end of next weekend. While it might not have the legs of Bridesmaids, The Heat and Spy, there’s no doubt that there’s a lucrative franchise in the making at Sony.
In fourth place this weekend, horror film Lights Out scared up an impressive $21.6 million. Opening in 1,000 theaters shy of either Star Trek Beyond or Ice Age: Collision Course, Lights Out clearly held it own. Positive reviews from critics plus word of mouth attributed to much of the success. And it doesn’t hurt that there’s no other horror films out in theaters at the moment. The question going forward is whether or not Light Out will perform like a typical horror film with an extremely frontloaded run or muster some legs like The Conjuring.
Rounding out the charts this weekend is Ice Age: Collision Course from Fox. The fifth installment in the 14-year-old franchise began to show its age with an underwhelming $21 million start. The first four film all opened well above $40 million and at the franchise’s prime, Ice Age: The Meltdown even claimed the March record in 2006. Collision Course was heavily panned by critics and with Pets still in the middle of a massive run, Ice Age was nothing more than second thought this weekend.
Star Trek Beyond nearly matched my $60 million prediction from Thursday. However, Lights Out pulled in more than anticipated and Ice Age: Collision Course debuted almost $10 million less.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – Star Trek Beyond (NR)
$59.6 million / $203.1 million total
#2 – The Secret Life of Pets (1)
$29.3 million / $260.7 million total
#3 – Ghostbusters (2)
$21.6 million / $86.9 million total
#4 – Lights Out (NR)
$21.6 million / $21.6 million total
#5 – Ice Age: Collision Course (NR)
$21.0 million / $21.0 million total
Opening Next Week: Nerve (Wednesday), Jason Bourne, Bad Moms
Source: Box Office Mojo
