J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness didn’t exactly “boldly go” where previous blockbusters have gone before, but it did earn enough in its debut weekend to prevail over Iron Man 3 and grab the box-office crown.
The sequel to Abrams’ 2009 Trek reboot banked an estimated $84 million in its first four days, doubling Iron Man’s pull in its third weekend of screenings. That’s slightly ahead of the $79 million the last Trek earned, though this new one – in theory – should have benefitted immensely from 3D and IMAX ticket prices, as well as the favorable buzz from the first movie, which was a critical and populist success.
Can Into Darkness do the same numbers as the original Trek? It’s likely. That film earned $257M in the States thanks to positive word of mouth.
But there are several huge blockbusters heading to theaters in the coming weeks, and if Into Darkness doesn’t keep beating the drum, it’s possible the box office tails off … and fast.
Both Iron Man 3 and The Great Gatsby continued to cool off, each dropping more than 50% in revenue totals from the previous week. But Gatsby climbed closer to the $100M mark in the U.S., while Iron Man soared past the $1 billion mark in worldwide ticket sales.
Here’s the full Top 10 list for the weekend:
MOVIE / WEEKEND / TOTAL
1. Star Trek Into Darkness, $70.5M, $84M
2. Iron Man 3, $35.1M, $337M
3. The Great Gatsby, $23.4M, $90.1M
4. Pain and Gain, $3.1M, $46.5M
5. The Croods, $2.7M, $176.7M
6. 42, $2.7M, $88.7M
7. Oblivion, $2.2M, $85.5M
8. Mud, $2.1M, $11.5M
9. Peeples, $2.1M, $7.8M
10. The Big Wedding, $1.1M, $20.1M
