Unofficial estimates from BOM for the 4-day weekend :

NATM $70M
TS $67.2M
Trek $29.4M
A&D $27.7M

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/?sortdate=2009-05-25&p=.htm

“Not only was there most certainly a home video market at the time of TMP and TWOK, but in fact, TWOK was literally the first feature film priced at a “sell-through” price designed to have people own, rather than rent, the film.
That price was $29.99, in a day when most features on videocassette were between $60-100.”

1979 was less than two years after the VHS VCR was launched in the US, and it was hardly mass-market.

When TWOK was released in 1983 at $39.95 for sale, it instigated a wave os similar sell-through releases, and the subsequent reduction in price of VCR’s which led to their eventual ubiquity. (My own memory + quick Wikipedia reference).

Before then, the giant top-loading VCR’s and were used primarily for taping and time-shifting TV programs by those who could afford them

1. Night at the Museum II $19,950,000
2. Terminator Salvation $14,750,000
3. Star Trek $8,350,000
4. Angels & Demons $8,100,000

The main thing to gather from this is that THE MOVIE HAS NOT YET RECOUPED ITS PRODUCTION COST.

OK, let’s say that ratio is generally in the ballpark. Based on a $244.2M worldwide gross a/o 5/22, less 45% to exhibitors, Trek needs to make only $15.5M to break even. That’s the rest of this weekend @ the same rate it earned on Friday. So by Monday it should be recouped.

But wait, what about the “real” costs of distribution: Print duplication & transportation? Then there’s the cost of development and marketing and advertising. As Art Buchwald showed us, the expenses never end to get to net profits. My point was simply to strip away the expenses for which we have no official numbers in order to avoid controversy about how well Trek is doing in relation to other Trek films which also had those costs. In general, My claim was that Trek’s gross earnings had recouped it’s production budget and made $94M (which is still less than the un-official reported market budget of $160M). But you are correct and now that you have presented a reasonable number for the theatre take we can assume Trek is starting at dollar one on Monday and must make a minimum of $150M more to completely recoup its marketing and ad expenses (though they can be amortized over the next film(s). That means Trek needs to gross a minimum of $420M worldwide. That’s roughly what TMP grossed in 1979 (adjusted) and I think certainly within Trek’s grasp, considering it’s only the third weekend and should go relatively unchallenged through the month of June and into July. That’s about $2.5M/day worldwide and it hasn’t even opened in many countries.

But technically, after Monday, every dollar earned goes to profit and Paramount gets to chose how to allocate it. Even if it doesn’t earn back all of its marketing and ad outlay, that money also helps promote the DVD sales down the line and better awareness of the next movie. So for now, Trek is doing just fine and should finish as one of the most, if not the most popular films in the franchise – even if it isn’t the most profitable.

Week 1 -2 90-10
Week 3 80-20
Week 4 70-30
Week 5 60-40
Week 6 50-50
Week 7+ 35-65

As I’ve said in previous posts, this usually ends up giving about 45% to the exhibitor at the end of the run, which is when the check is cut. I could blather for paragraphs about why, but I’ll spare you.

The main thing to gather from this is that THE MOVIE HAS NOT YET RECOUPED ITS PRODUCTION COST.

Studio accountants can worry about the budget. I’m interested overall, historic popularity. Ticket prices are different than they were 30 years ago.

Its good to hear all the word of mouth acceptance too.

I would be surprised if there isn’t a big computer they throw the totals into that doesn’t spit out a response, including salary guidance…