Did this happen? Did nerd stuff automatically become cool stuff? Hot babes are wearing Vulcan ears, frat boys are whistling the theme, and now people are showing up in droves for “Star Trek.” The eleventh film in the series scored by far the biggest opening, bringing in $72.5 million ($76.5 million if Thursday counts), topping the $30.7 million haul of ’96’s “Star Trek: First Contact.” It didn’t match the opening of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” but credit where credit’s due, the second weekend of May has typically been a weak period to debut, with the summer’s usually-big kickoff movie enjoying a fruitful second weekend- witness “Speed Racer” stalling at the starting line last year.
In fact, the last number one debut for the second weekend of May was 2005’s tepidly received “Monster In Law,” so perhaps “Star Trek” is a trend-breaker. Can it be another trend-breaker and have solid legs? It’s got “Angels and Demons” next weekend, followed by “Terminator: Salvation,” “A Night At The Museum 2” and “Up” in coming weeks, so it will be a struggle to hold on to screens. While “Star Trek” may have some sudden “cool” cachet, an opening like this doesn’t erase the stigma of being a “geek” property since they all open big. Historically, “Star Trek” movies have NEVER done well internationally, and with some saying the budget for “Trek” is somewhere between $150 and $200 million, legs will be needed for this especially competitive marketplace. Word of mouth is good, though, and Paramount has to be happy about this weekend- relaunches usually open as a reflection of how audiences felt about the last film in the series- see “Batman Begins”‘s weak opening frame- so the fact that people ignored the influence from 2002’s “Star Trek: Nemesis,” still the lowest grossing of the series, is a strong sign.
News wasn’t so great for “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” but it wasn’t a doomsday scenario either. “Wolverine” lost 68% of its audience to fall to $27 million, but its total still runs to a lil under $130, with $200 million not out of the question. It runs in line with the third film’s 67% second weekend drop, cementing this franchise as a one-weekend wonder, but with international numbers stronger than usual for a superhero movie (worldwide tally- $209 million), expect “Wolverine 2” to be rushed into production as soon as Hugh Jackman realizes no one wants to see his other movies. Also notable- it took “Wolverine” barely two weekends to lap the other major comic book film this year, with “Watchmen” stalling out at an underwhelming $107 million. Take that, source material! “Ghosts of Girlfriends’ Past” came in at #3 with $10.5 million, suggesting it may still have the legs to survive as counterprogramming, though next weekend’s “Management” might siphon some of that “undemanding housewife” cash.
“Obsessed” and “17 Again” rounded out the top five, with $6.6 million and $4.4 million respectively. Both have crossed the $50 million mark with ease and held up pretty well despite blockbuster competition, a major win for all parties. Not so fortunate was action-comedy counterprogramming “Next Day Air,” which debuted with $4 million at #6. Summit Entertainment’s last three releases, “Twilight,” “Push” and “Knowing” all grossed at least $30 million, a hit, a smash and a break-even, so this certainly slows the momentum for the burgeoning indie studio. Meanwhile, “Monsters Vs. Aliens” remains the year’s highest grosser at #8, running its total to $187 million with two weekends to go before its biggest competitor, “A Night at The Museum 2.”
In indie cinemas, “Rudo Y Cursi” debuted on 70 screens with a surprisingly low $211k, while Robert Pattinson fans didn’t really show up for “Little Ashes,” where $77k worth of tickets were purchased for twelve theaters nationwide. Also debuting was “Adoration,” the new Atom Egoyan movie, with a little under $44k in the bank. The news was worse for indie CGI toon “Battle For Terra,” which lost 83% of its meager opening weekend to bring its total to $1.5 million. Things aren’t great for the indie scene, and opportunities dry up further in the summertime- hell, more people paid to see the seventeen-week-old “Hotel For Dogs” than Jim Jarmusch’s “The Limits Of Control” this weekend. Please, readers- something like “Star Trek” sure seems sexy, but let’s support your local arthouse.
1. Space Quest Eleven- $72.5 million ($76.5 mil.)
2. Hugh Jackman’s Meal Ticket- $27 million ($130 mil)
3. Matthew McConaughey Dislikes You- $10.5 million ($30 mil)
4. Crazy Bitches- $6.6 million ($56 mil)
5. Body Switching Part XXII- $4.4 million ($54 mil)
6. Next Day Air- $4 million
7. The Soloist- $3.6 million ($24 mil)
8. Monsters Vs. Aliens- $3.3 million ($187 mil)
9. Earth- $2.5 million ($26 mil)
10. Hannah Montana: The Product- $2.4 million ($74 mil)
especially sad because hotel for dogs is on dvd now and it still beat Limits.