Sequels: the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Star Trek franchise. It’s mulit-decade mission: to exploit new demographics, to seek out new fans and new markets, to boldly go once more to all the places Captain Kirk and Co. have gone before.
As Kirk knows as well anyone, however, sometimes missions just don’t go as planned. And that seems to be the case with director J.J. Abrams second Trek effort in this rebooted franchise. Star Trek Into Darkness, blasted off to an estimated $70.6 million over the three-day weekend ($84.1 million total counting Wednesday night and Thursday screenings). Those numbers were strong enough to knock Iron Man 3 back to the No. 2 spot, with Tony Stark taking in another $35.2 million. But they weren’t as strong as 2009’s Star Trek, which made $86.7 million in its first five days. Nor were Into Darkness‘ numbers anywhere near the $100 million five-day open that many industry pundits had been predicting.
Which is to say, we haven’t even gotten to the traditional opening of the summer movie season, Memorial Day weekend, and already one of the most anticipated tentpole popcorn munchers of the season is underperforming. And it’s safe to say that Kirk, Spock and Scotty are likely to face stiff competition from Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III when the summer season starts in earnest next weekend.
Moving down the list, Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby added an estimated $23.4 million to its coffers, bringing its two-week cume to $90.2 million. After that, box office returns fell off sharply, with the No. 4 film, Pain & Gain only gaining $3.1 million more, while the No. 5 contender, The Croods, chased down another $2.8 million.
Check back next week to find out whether Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and the dreaded Wolfpack can conspire to keep Captain Kirk from warping into the top spot again.
Final figures update: 1. Strek Into Darkness, $70.2 million; 2. Iron Man 3, $35.8 million; 3. The Great Gatsby, $23.9 million; 4. Pain & Gain, $3.2 million; 5. The Croods, $3.0 million.
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