Of all thirteen Star Trek films, the three J.J. Abrams-produced reboots (a.k.a. the Kelvin Timeline) have had the three best openings; however, Star Trek Beyond’s $59.6 million is the worst of the three. The drop isn’t unusual for franchises, but it’s the opposite trend from the original Star Trek films, each of which consecutively opened higher from the original in 1979 until the ninth film, Star Trek: Insurrection, in 1998. Despite the latest release opening $20 million behind 2009’s “Star Trek”, experts say it’s still promising for Paramount.
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“Beyond, which stars Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Captain Kirk and Spock, is the 13th Star Trek film overall in the franchise and third film with the new cast”.
“This is a solid enough debut to tell them there’s still enough interest in Star Trek to keep this franchise alive”, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for the box office tracker comScore. One wonders if attendance will improve as the positive critical reception spreads, particularly around star Anton Yelchin, who was tragically killed in June.
It knocked The Secret Life of Pets off its throne, which occupied the top-spot for two weekends in a row. The fifth animated pre-historic venture in the series, Ice Age: Collision Course, opened in fifth place with a just $21 million.
Outside the top 10, the well-received cinematic continuation of the popular U.K. TV series Absolutely Fabulous earned a healthy estimated $1.9 million from 313 theaters, averaging approximately $6,006 per screen as it hit with its target niche audience.
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Woody Allen’s Cafe Society grew to an estimated $875,000 to its total as it added 45 theaters on Friday, averaging around $17,500 per location for a domestic gross of $1.4 million thus far.
