By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES
The latest voyage of the starship Enterprise fell short of its predecessor, 2009’s “Star Trek,” which opened with $75.2 million.
Since premiering Wednesday in huge-screen IMAX theaters and expanding Thursday to general cinemas, “Into Darkness” has pulled in $84.1 million, well below distributor Paramount’s initial forecast of $100 million. The film added $40 million overseas, pushing its total to $80.5 million since it began rolling out internationally a week earlier.
The “Star Trek” sequel bumped “Iron Man 3” down to second place after two weekends on top. Robert Downey Jr.’s superhero saga took in $35.2 million domestically to lift its receipts to $337.1 million. Overseas, “Iron Man 3” added $40.2 million, raising its international total to $736.2 million and its worldwide tally to nearly $1.1 billion.
While “Iron Man 3” and “Into Darkness” did well overseas, they were outmatched by the debut of Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” which followed its domestic debut a week earlier with a wide rollout internationally. “Gatsby” pulled in $42.1 million overseas, coming in a bit ahead of both “Iron Man 3” and “Into Darkness.”
Domestically, “Gatsby” held up well at No. 3 with $23.4 million, lifting its total to $90.2 million.
In today’s Hollywood of bigger, better sequels, follow-up films often outdo the box office of their predecessors, as each “Iron Man” sequel has done. While “Into Darkness” earned good reviews and is getting strong word-of-mouth from fans, the film did not quite measure up to the opening weekend of director J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” reboot from four years ago, at least domestically.
Paramount points out that overseas business is up in many markets, though, so that worldwide, the sequel is off to a better start.
Harris said that domestically, “Into Darkness” finished its first weekend 6 percent ahead of revenues for 2009’s “Star Trek,” which got a head-start with $4 million in Thursday night previews to give it a $79.2 million haul through the first Sunday.
But “Into Darkness” had a full day of screenings Thursday plus its Wednesday IMAX business. Unlike the first movie, which played only in 2-D, the sequel also had the benefit of 3-D screenings that cost a few dollars more. Yet even with the 3-D upcharge and the earlier debut, it came away with just $4.9 million more than its predecessor through Sunday.
Still, it’s a solid starting place for the movie to live long and prosper at theaters, with Paramount hoping “Into Darkness” can surpass the $385 million worldwide total of “Star Trek.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” $70.6 million ($40 million international).
2. “Iron Man 3,” $35.2 million ($40.2 million international).
3. “The Great Gatsby,” $23.4 million ($42.1 million international)
4. “Pain & Gain,” $3.1 million.
5. “The Croods,” $2.75 million.
6. “42,” $2.73 million.
7. “Oblivion,” $2.2 million.
8. “Mud,” $2.16 million.
9. “Peeples,” $2.15 million.
10. “The Big Wedding,” $1.1 million.
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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:
1. “The Great Gatsby,” $42.1 million.
2. “Iron Man 3,” $40.2 million.
3. “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” $40 million.
4. “Epic,” $14.5 million.
5. “Fast & Furious 6,” $13.8 million.
6. “The Croods,” $10.6 million.
7. “Evil Dead,” $5.6 million.
8. “Oblivion,” $4.7 million.
9. “Montage,” $4.1 million.
10. “Mama,” $1.7 million.
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Online:
http://www.hollywood.com
http://www.rentrak.com
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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.
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