‘Star Trek’ streaks across box office; ‘Wolverine’ tumbles
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‘Star Trek” beamed up $31 million Friday and Thursday evening, putting it on a path to gross more than $70 million and possibly more than $80 million in ticket sales for the weekend.
By Sunday, Paramount’s $140-million sci-fi reboot will most probably be on the high end of or above estimates based on pre-release polling that it would gross between $65 million and $75 million.
That’s a bit less than the $35 million that Fox’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which had a similar production budget, grossed last Friday. However, given “Star Trek’s” overwhelmingly positive reviews and online buzz, Paramount’s flick appears likely to hold on longer at the box office.
“Wolverine,” on the other hand, is tumbling fast after its big start. Though Fox didn’t report a Friday gross for the “X-Men” spinoff starring Hugh Jackman, a source at a competing studio pegged it at $8.35 million, a 76% drop from its opening day. The overall weekend decline will undoubtedly be lower, since last Friday’s gross was pumped up by $5 million worth of midnight shows, but a sizable drop of well above 60% now looks probable.
It wasn’t immediately apparent how much of “Star Trek’s” $31 million in tickets came from Thursday evening, though it was probably in the $2-million to $4-million range, since the total including midnight showings was a little more than $7 million. One thing is already clear, however: In its first 29 hours, the new “Star Trek” grossed more than any of its 10 franchise predecessors on their opening weekends (although comparisons are also affected by today’s higher ticket prices).
Summit Entertainment’s “Next Day Air,” a low-budget pickup from Paramount aimed at young African American and Latino males, grossed $1.39 million Friday, a bit below already very modest expectations. The action comedy starring Mike Epps and Donald Faison will probably account for less than $5 million worth of tickets sold for the weekend.
Giving credence to Warner Bros.’ contention that the romantic comedy would have staying power against big-budget summer event films, “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” grossed $3.1 million Friday, down only 46% from its opening day.
-- Ben Fritz
Photo: Leonard Nimoy stars as Spock Prime in the movie ‘Star Trek.’ Credit: Paramount Pictures