‘Star Trek Beyond’ soars with $59.6M at weekend box office

Star Trek Beyond boldly went to the top of the box office in its weekend debut, sending The Secret Life of Pets to the doghouse in the number two spot.

First created by Gene Roddenberry for a television network, the Star Trek franchise debuted in 1966 and initially ran for three seasons in the US.

In fifth place was Ice Age: Collision Course with a US$21 million take in its debut.

But despite its strong performance in the U.S. over the weekend, it took $15m (£11.4m) less than 2009’s Star Trek – the first film in the current series.

Producer J.J. Abrams, who directed the previous two instalments in the sci-fiction franchise, led the cast and fans in a moment of silent reflection ahead of the film’s USA premiere. “There’s someone missing. Anton should be here”, before calling for the impeccably observed minute’s silence.

In fact, the film opens with Kirk (Chris Pine) negotiating some peace treaty with some aliens that look like something more out of Star Wars than Star Trek.

Although we have J.J. Abrams to thank for the reinvention of the Star Trek movies with probably the best ever casting throughout the whole ensemble.

The animated film’s total in North America is now at $260.7 million, and its worldwide total stands at $323.7 million.

Nearly tripling the grosses of Ice Age: Collision and Lights Out, Star Trek Beyond earned an estimated $59.6 million on about 3,928 screens in its opening week. Adapted from first-time filmmaker David Sandberg’s short film on the concept, “Lights Out” was released by Time Warner Inc.’sWarner Bros. and cost only $5 million to make. That huge increase saw it pull in a respectable $3.7 million. “Ice Age” received a “B+” and “Lights Out” got a “B”.

“This is a big global franchise now”, said Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice chairman. The thing is that the film feels like Star Trek, like what it is supposed to be, and the flawless way to celebrate the franchise’s 50 anniversary. That would be a worrisome, even disastrous result for a film that carries a $105 million budget. Another film for the franchise had been already confirmed by the studio.

The film put me in mind of an elongated episode from the old 60’s TV series, which worked really well. He felt that Paramount could have done a little more in pushing the movie.

In its second week, Woody Allen’s Cafe Society expanded to 50 locations.

From Paramount Pictures and Skydance, Star Trek Beyond is a Bad Robot, Sneaky Shark, Perfect Storm Entertainment production.