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The new 'Star Trek' wins the weekend box office, but performs below expectations
("Star Trek Beyond."Paramount Pictures)
It looks like the Trekkies came out in force to support the latest movie highlighting the voyages of the USS Enterprise, "Star Trek Beyond," as it won the weekend with an estimated $59.6 million, according to Variety.
However, it would have been better for the film's studio, Paramount, if a few more outside of the fan base showed up this weekend, as "Beyond" has the lowest opening weekend out of the two previous "Trek" releases in this most recent reboot of the sci-fi franchise.
With a $185 million budget, this opening weekend came in lower than the projections, but it can rebound with continued strong turnouts in the coming weeks at the domestic box office and strong openings worldwide.
But with 2009's "Star Trek" opening with $75.2 million and 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness" taking in $70.1 million on its opening (both directed by J.J. Abrams), the drop for the third film, which is directed by Justin Lin, is a warning sign that the franchise needs some tweaking.
The issues may be less the story than the marketing. With an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics enjoyed the movie, but it seems Paramount needed to think outside the box to get people other than Trekkies to go to the theaters.
In second place is the animated movie, "The Secret Life of Pets," which continues to have a strong theatrical run taking in $29.3 million this weekend. It's now taken in $260.7 million total domestically.
But the same can't be said for the newest animated movie at the multiplex, "Ice Age: Collision Course," which only took in $21 million over the weekend. It marks the worst opening in the five-film franchise.
The big winner of the weekend is Warner Bros.'s $5 million-budgeted horror "Lights Out," which took in an incredible $21.6 million. A new horror franchise is born.
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