‘Star Trek Beyond’ soars with $59M at weekend box office

On my 15th anniversary of writing this piece, and having seen four Star Trek films go by in that time period, I still have to wonder how these films are financially viable, as this group has cost Paramount a combined $585 million, and all told should earn a combined $1.4 billion worldwide.

The film stars John Cho, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin and Idris Elba.

“This opening is a solid debut for a film and a franchise, showing that Star Trek still stands the test of time”, says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore.

“Pets” fell to second place, adding an additional $29.3 million to its stellar $260 million earnings over the past three weeks.

Also in limited release, The Film Arcade’s Mike Birbiglia-directed comedy Don’t Think Twice premiered to 2016’s highest per-screen average thus far, taking $90,126 from a single screen in NY.

“The Secret Life of Pets” and “Ghostbusters” bested the weekend’s other new releases.

“Lights Out”, a horror movie from Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., made its debut in third place with sales of $21.6 million in USA and Canadian theaters, researcher ComScore Inc. said Sunday in an e-mailed statement.

Ice Age: Collision Course landed with a thud in fifth place in its opening weekend.

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.

Elsewhere, conservative author and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s Hillary Clinton documentary, Hillary Clinton: The Secret History of the Democratic Party, is expanding nationwide this weekend after opening in three theaters last week in Texas, a conservative stronghold. “But it’s obviously due to the timing with the Republican National Convention last week and the Democratic National Convention this week”.

The previous installment, Ice Age: Continental Drift, debuted to $46.6 million domestically in July 2012, made 82 percent of its final gross overseas, a massive $716 million, and Collision Course is already off to a strong start offshore, earning an early $127 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to comScore.