Star Trek Warps to Major Box Office Weekend Win

May 10th, 2009

Thank the Gods, Star Trek, the reboot by J.J. Abrams, didn’t implode on itself. This movie was one of the biggest question marks in years in terms of box office potential: it had the look, feel and action of a summer blockbuster, but it was, in the end, Star Trek, a franchise that was considered all but dead just a few years ago after the last film Nemesis failed to break $50 million domestic – as its box office total.

This new Star Trek sailed through that number sometime on Saturday, and will finish out the box office weekend with an estimated $76.5 in box office receipts. Saturday’s numbers were higher than Friday’s, indicating that the picture isn’t completely frontloaded due to a fan boy rush, either – which isn’t all that surprising given the general appeal this picture has. For the first time ever, my casual moviegoing friends, including all of my female friends, want to go see a Star Trek film, and that says something.

Sure, $76.5 million isn’t as huge of an opening as last week’s blockbuster blunder X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but no one was expecting it to top that one. However, given that Wolverine plummeted 68% to only $27 million in its second weekend, it’s quite likely that Star Trek – with glowing reviews and strong word of mouth – will surpass the film in a long run.

J.J. Abrams has successfully rebooted the Star Trek franchise, and Trekkies who have been upset about the changes made should rethink their position: it’s either this or nothing, and this is pretty damn good.

In other box office weekend news, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past showed good legs given its lack of competition, as it dropped only 30% to $10 million this weekend. Next Day Air, the only other new release and one that no one has even heard of (I haven’t seen a single commercial or preview) debuted with only $4 million, albeit on just over 1,000 screens.