They’ve been taunting us for months now and while that sometimes comes across as obnoxious or pompous but in the case of the STAR TREK reboot, it seems that it was just pride all along.
There was no certainty that relaunching a decades old franchise and aiming it at a generation that really had nothing to do with it past having to sit through organized marathons with their potentially costumed fathers. Yet here we are, $72 million later, and there is no question that the decision to come back was a good one. The film is being heralded highly by both critics and audiences alike, which means that STAR TREK may not disappear so quickly into the overcrowded summer night. Outside of North America, STAR TREK performed solidly, pulling in an additional $35 million. Playing on over 5,000 screens, many expected a bigger figure.
STAR TREK may not have launched as monumentally as last weekend’s WOLVERINE but something tells me STAR TREK will be able to parlay its excellent word of mouth into a much thinner decline than the 68% WOLVERINE plummeted this week. WOLVERINE does not have the benefit of being loved by many if any, had to deal with the inevitable fanboy drop-off and went head to head with another highly anticipated feature that was essentially attacking the same demographic. WOLVERINE almost held its international box office crown though, pulling in just under $30 million outside of North America.
The Top 10 saw only one other debut, NEXT DAY AIR, which fizzled out in sixth place. Meanwhile, three intriguing indies performed reasonably well in limited release further down the chart. The highest charting title is also the title with the lowest average between the three. Reuniting Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna from Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, RUDO Y CURSI, debuted on 70 screens but only managed an average of $3K. Meanwhile, debuting on just 12 screens, LITTLE ASHES, in which TWILIGHT hunk, Robert Pattinson plays gay, brought in the highest average of any limited release, $6.4K. And falling somewhere in between the two, Atom Egoyan’s latest, ADORATION, brought in an average of $4.3K on just 10 screens.
NEXT WEEK: Tom Hanks tries to take down Starfleet and the Roman Catholic church in ANGELS AND DEMONS. And on the indie front, the Jennifer Aniston/Steve Zahn comedy, MANAGEMENT will start small and the oft-delayed THE BROTHERS BLOOM will finally see the light of day.