SUNDAY UPDATE: Star Trek Into Darkness domestic ticket sales picked up over the weekend, plus strong international sales have boosted the total estimated box office to over $164M. More detailed look at the box office below.
SUNDAY UPDATE: Into Darkness Projected To End Wkd w/ $164.5M
Star Trek Into Darkness has been the number one movie domestically since Thursday and after a sluggish Friday, sales rallied on Saturday with an estimated $27.5M (a bit ahead of the 2009 Star Trek film). Sunday is also estimated to bring in another $21M with a three-day weekend total of $70.5M and a cumulative total of $84.1M, or about $4M ahead of where the 2009 Star Trek movie was on its first Sunday.
While $84M is short of Paramount’s $100M predictions from last week, it is actually in line with predictions they were making three weeks ago before they moved the release date up one day to Thursday May 16th. In the end it looks like the last minute release date change didn’t really give them the box office boost they were hoping for. However, the numbers are still fairly solid with the third best domestic opening of 2013 and it beat all but six films from 2012.
The news for Paramount is even better when it comes to international sales. Into Darkness brought in another $40M around the world, opening in an additional 33 markets. The film continues to significantly outperform the 2009 Star Trek movie in international markets. For example in Russia the new movie made $8M this weekend, whereas the 2009 Star Trek only made $4M during its entire run. Paramount Vice Chairman Rob Moore tells Variety that Into Darkness could double the $129M international sales of 2009’s Star Trek. So even if Into Darkness doesn’t end up matching Star Trek domestically, it looks like the international sales will more than ensure Into Darkness has a higher total global gross.
Currently the estimated global gross of Into Darkness is $164.5M.
TrekMovie will have more detailed analysis once the final numbers come in for the weekend.
original article
Into Darkness underperforming Star Trek 2009 Domestically
Star Trek Into Darkness brought in $11.5 on its opening day on Thursday making it the #1 domestic movie, but below expectations. Box office watchers feel that many movie-goers weren’t aware Paramount moved the release date up one day, which was only done a week ahead. Yesterday analyst estimates for Into Darkness had it headed for a $27M Friday and a $85M opening weekend (Fri/Sat/Sun), boosted by a "A" CinemaScore rating and strong reviews. These projections had the film hitting a $100M cumulative target by Sunday (meeting earlier predictions).
However, by Saturday morning Friday’s results were revised to an estimated $22M. Paramount is now projecting $70M for the weekend. Analysts and rival studios think the weekend number could be less, as low as $56M (according to Deadline). BoxOffice.com is estimating $68M. So it looks like Star Trek Into Darkness will underperform the opening domestic weekend of the 2009 Star Trek movie, despite getting a boost from higher-priced 3D ticket sales.
If Paramount’s projection holds, then Into Darkness will end the weekend with a cumulative total of around $83M. With the benefit of having opened a day earlier, Into Darkness would be slightly ahead of the cumulative total for the 2009 Star Trek movie (see table below).
|
STAR TREK VS. INTO DARKNESS |
||
| Domestic $M | Star Trek 2009 |
Into Darkness (estimates*) |
| Wednesday | – | $2.0** |
| Thursday | $4** | $11.5 |
| Friday | $26.9 | $22.0 |
| Saturday | $27.2 | $48.0 (Sat & Sun) |
| Sunday | $21.0 | |
| Open Wkd Total. | $75.2 | $70.0 |
| Cumulative | $79.2 | $83.5 |
| *Estimates based on Paramount projection **limited release | ||
A $65-$70M opening weekend would make Into Darkness the third highest grossing opening weekend of 2013 so far (behind Iron Man 3 and Oz: The Great and Powerful) and would rank it in 7th or 8th place if it were a 2012 release. The 2009 Star Trek movie had the 6th best opening weekend of the year.
Into Darkness overperforming 2009 Star Trek Overseas
Paramount tells Variety, Into Darkness is "currently orbiting $75M for the weekend in 33 territories." We don’t have country by country details yet, but so far wherever there has been data, it has shown Into Darkness significantly overperforming the 2009 Star Trek film in each territory. Overall the film has been doing round 60-70% better than the previous film internationally, but it is still early to see if that trend continues.
Right now most of the above is based on estimates and projections. In the next couple of days we will have more concrete details on how Into Darkness is performing both domestically and internationally.
my show was about 3/4 full…Friday….numbers look about right..
So disappointing. I think IM3 is to blame.
This is disappointing. Was really hoping that 100M+ estimate would hold especially since it will have to face a juggernaut of two films next week in The Hangover and FF6, two movies that probably many non-trek fans will pick over a Star Trek film anyday due to its genre.
What’s sad is that it seems like people are getting dum… less sophisticated. While I am a huge fan of anything Marvel, what bothers me is that a movie like Iron Man 3, which was entertaining but lacking in many areas can easily defeat a film like STID which has a GREAT story, excellent character development, a menacing villain, a message of hope (and fear)–much like our world today, and many other great qualities.
Here’s to hoping that STID pulls out a much better than expected Saturday+Sunday and a better than expected week considering this week is a precursor to a holiday weekend.
I hope this does not mean the end again for Star Trek.
This poor performance might have something to do with the fact they waited 4 long years, and just assumed regular people would be stick around and be interested.
To quote Gladiator “The mob is Fickle.” Back in 2009 there was a lot of hype because this was something new. The Mob was excited then!
The Mob of people might have just forgoten and moved on.
That Being said I loved this movie, I will see it again in Imax. I also hope that they make another one soon!
@2 Erik
It might be. But if that is the case, wouldn’t the new movie show some legs?
I mean, if people are skipping ST to go see IM3, isn’t it possible that they will watch ST on a later date (because of the good WOM), so we get a soft start but a smaller than usual drop by week 2?
Problem is, FF6 and HO3 are coming next week….
Foreign market is key this time…i suppose!
Paramount really blew it by moving it up a day early with only a week’s notice — heck, some of the ads still said “opening May 17.” We saw it on the 16th, but most people we know either saw it yesterday or are going this weekend. I hope the great word-of-mouth gives it stronger legs.
@5 opcode
I’m hoping that is the case, for sure! This is starting to be “Lord of the Rings” all over again, except this time it’s a good Trek movie as opposed to “Nemesis”
I think some blame has to be put on JJ’s mystery box and the identity of the villain. People like to know who the good guys are going to be fighting. Plus, these summer movies are so packed together, they should have released it a month or two ago when nothing was out.
Does anyone think that this move by Paramount to open one day earlier one week prior to original date was a failed marketing decision?
I would guess it was their intent to make non Trek fans think that Friday was going to be extremely popular so that to keep up with “demand” they would move it up by a day.
I would also guess that the plan backfired because now there is this:
1. The Trek fans who were not able to see the fan preview purchased, long ago, tickets for a midnight showing or later Friday showing. Now being Trek fans, instead of waiting until Friday, they went ahead and exchanged/purchased new tickets to the Thursday screenings; thus, leaving the Friday theaters emptier than it would have been.
2. Because of theaters not being full on what most perceived as the opening day (Fri), perhaps they got the impression that the movie was not popular and they would be less inclined to spread the word that the movie was awesome.
3. I would also guess that most people generally don’t really read any reviews of films, particularly in niche genres like Star Trek.
::sigh:: I hope this doens’t mean the death of Star Trek.
I dont know much about the box office business but from what i understand numbers are healthy! Dont understand why is everyone panicking..They ll rise and more theaters will be added next week!
I think there were just a lot of things wrong with the movie and the marketing:
1) Why hide Khan? If he’s your villain, advertise it.
2) I know a lot of people (Star Trek fans but perhaps not ones so crazy that they come here) who have decided to skip Into Darkness or wait for it on DVD because of Khan, magic blood, etc.
3) It seems that this movie is a hit among people who would go to the theater to see it once, but a mix bag for those who might normally go see it 5 times or something.
I think it’ll probably do good enough to get a 3rd movie, though they may be less likely to take chances making it
@4 NX01
It could be a number of reason: the 4 years wait (really too long), the whole J J mystery box again (in this case the villain’s true identity), IM3, or a combination of these.
10 – I think the move to move it up to Thursday was based on the perception that it would hit or pass $100 million. But it was done so late that a lot of people didn’t know about it, it
If you were to blame anything it would have to be the length between the two movies. People were very excited after 2009 but nowadays people have a shorter attention span.
I think paramount acknowledges this.
I am surprised it is performing so poorly (relatively) as all I’ve heard is people talking about it and how good it is. I’d have thought word of mouth alone would drive a great weekend for this film let alone the very good reviews and scores it has been enjoying. Weird.
Paramount estimated an $80 million weekend opener, so I’d say we’re right on track.
I have nothing against JJ, he’s a good director, but they need new writers. Maybe someone who isn’t a Star Trek fan and just wants to tell a good story. Meyer and Bennet weren’t fans and they made some great films. The best parts of the movie are the character stuff, there just wasn’t enough of it becuase you gotta get to the next action scene.
I think that opening Thursday sucked in the fanboy rush. It’ll be interesting to see the weekend estimates.
I went to one of the local cinemas here in Limerick Ireland and they still had IM3 on all the big screens and STID on the smaller screen. They were also only alternating 2D and 3D. I said “screw this” and went to the other cinema who were giving STID the main billing.
I hate to say this, but as much as I enjoyed it, I felt a bit underwhelmed by it because it did not feel original due to the similarities to the Wrath of Khan. A few non trekkie friends will not see it because of this (i.e, it is unoriginal film) and of the mixed reviews it has had. I think if they had called it “Khan” from the outset, it might have been more popular. Paramount should have played on that and perhaps released it earlier, it might have been more successful.
The big fear is that 2009 was a box office fluke, and that people went to see it for the novelty of the recast, because JJs name was attached to it, etc. If that’s true it’s a real shame because this was a great movie and a very good Star Trek movie. And it would also prove that, great reviews or not, Star Trek is not going to be the big hitte we’d like.
I hope it’s not true…but that would be the fear.
I for one thought it was excellent, and better than the last film (which was very good in its own right).
A bit surprised at the numbers. Wednesday night was packed and saw it again on Friday afternoon with my office and it was packed as well.
I think the whole retread of Khan in the way it was cast and the writing (or cut and paste) of the death scene will hurt repeat screenings and word of mouth. Who knows unless someone does a poll and releases the results.
The story stole emotional iconic scenes from Wrath of Kahn and I found big flaws in the story not to mention some aspects feeling not like Trek. Especially them walking around in those awful nazis grey uniforms and those hats are just stupid. Really didn’t like other scenes especially those in London and it felt more like Dr Who! It’s a shame as its a great cast and the acting was awesome. Music score was also disappointing compared to 2009 reboot.
I think the big problem was Paramount opening it a day early (on a non holiday weekend) and waiting FOUR years since the last one. Trek was rebooted in 2009 and was a huge hit. Instead of striking while the iron was hot, they waited until it all faded away. A huge mistake, IMO.
But in the end, I think Into Darkness will have strong legs and make a fortune at the box office, probably more than the last film. Unfortunately, the opening weekend headlines are all studios seem to care about anymore.
I’m just not buying the “4 year gap” thing. That doesn’t explain why the hype and expectations kept increasing over the past 2 weeks to a month and then fell flat.
Either people were horribly misreading things in the past 2 weeks that suddenly made them think it was going to make $100m+ opening weekend, or something happened after the international release that deflated the bubble
Heck – in Chicago – as is likely among large population centers, STID opened May 15th. (IMAX 3D only, of course, but still)
Star Trek really needs to calm down and get back on track as a television series. Even though I was upset by the careless writing/storytelling in STID, IT WAS A GOOD SHOW!!
I’m not the least bit surprised that it is under performing. Newsflash to Paramount–you can’t wait 4 years to open a sequel and expect the general public to care about it. Plus, it doesn’t seem that as many folks are seeing this one more than once. That’s got to hurt. I saw ST2009 a total of 5 times in the theater–3 times on opening weekend. That movie excited me so much that I just wanted to see it again and again. STID left me cold. I wasn’t excited when the movie ended. I was just “meh.” It saddens me that this movie will under perform. I blame the poor decisions by Paramount, including a silly script.
STID’s apparent underperformance in the US market can be attributed to any number of factors but personally I think Abram’s almost fetishistic need for secrecy during the production, and then having the movie premiere overseas weeks ahead of the US and subsequent flooding of clips and spoilers served to diminish interest.
I also think waiting four years between movies robbed this iteration of any traction it might have had built with the moviegoing public. It was out of the public eye for too long and that aforesaid need to hide every aspect of the production for so long didn’t help either.
That, and the fact that it was an utterly unoriginal story that could only manage to borrow events and characters from other movies in the series and mash them together into a big, shiny but ultimately hollow film.
maybe it’s because the movie came two year too late and failed to capitalize on the momentum of the success of the first one.
I haven’t bought my Sunday tickets yet. I haven’t gone yet even though I’ve been stupid enough to read spoilers.
So add about $25-30 to those numbers.
@ 30. Brevard – May 18, 2013
“I saw ST2009 a total of 5 times in the theater–3 times on opening weekend. That movie excited me so much that I just wanted to see it again and again. STID left me cold. I wasn’t excited when the movie ended. I was just “meh.””
Yep, that is how I felt too. I watched ST09 like 3 times in the first week. I was excited about it, but with STID I didn’t feel the same way. I just seen it once & not going a second time.
Long time reader, first time commenter here. I’ve seen the movie twice now and have a couple of minor quibbles with why the b.o. may not be as strong as everyone would like…
1. The writing really nose-dived in the second half of the movie beginning with the revelation of Khan and yet another deranged admiral. The reactor scene, while it did show Kirk redeeming himself, was just unnecessary. Nimoy’s cameo was also a bit of a wasted opportunity. In short, I feel that as people see it, they might tell others to just watch Star Trek II or wait for the blu-ray.
2. In my area of the U.S., we’re finally seeing nice weather after recovering from 4 blizzards in April. Maybe people just want to be out and about while it’s nice outside?
3. I don’t want this to be political, but the economy is still a mixed bag right now. People may just not have the extra cash or might just see one movie a month (with IM3 being the opening draw of May). Perhaps as STID goes on throughout summer, people can maybe see it at a cheap theater or morning/matinee time. I even kind of feel guilty for going a second time with prices and such.
4. IMHO there was a bit too much marketing. Several articles on Yahoo! over the past few days have been Trek heavy. Commenters there are a little tired of it. I’ve seen it advertised extensively on ESPN and places where people just don’t want to be bugged with movie promos.
5. The studio execs messed it up by releasing the film overseas. If there’s a third film, simultaneously release it everywhere and please stop spilling out 1 minute clips. Give it some sense of mystery if that’s at all possible in the Internet Age.
A solid film overall. The first half was really great. I would’ve personally preferred more scenes/time on the alien planet at the beginning. The writing just wasn’t that great in the second half unfortunately.
Well I was indifferent to meh about it (whilst recognising it does have many good qualities) but even I’ve seen it twice! I’ve done my bit to help i along.
I hope the numbers pick up a little. I’m sure i’ll do fine in the longer run. A couple of days isn’t long enough.
Good to see International doing better this time.
The four year wait was a big mistake. The days of Star Wars with three years between sequels is over. Now, franchises come out with movies on a yearly basis. Lord of the Rings/Hobbit, Harry Potter, Twilight were all done yearly. Disney is putting out 2 Marvel movies a year now, and that doesn’t count the non-Disney Marvel movies. The upcoming Star Wars sequels will be every other year, but will have spin off movies in-between to keep up interest.
Sadly, Paramount/JJ missed the boat on this one. For us to get Trek 3 next year is impossible, since they’d have to be filming now for a 2014 release, and the window on 2015 is closing quickly too.
the movie was awesome, give it time
30, 33 – yeah, pretty much. I had plans to see it midnight Wednesday, Thursday afternoon, and again this weekend. I passed on the Thursday afternoon and may pass on watching it again this weekend
Of all the fans I know, only 1 liked it, and will see it one other time more. The others do not like it at all, trek was never about fights, and now we have 2 fight movies.
So I think it is the fans not liking it, not the 4 year gap.
Some of them, me including, will not go and see it.
The number of people commenting here, is also decreasing.
In fact ID is the much better film. But it will face of some really though competition next week.
Fast 6 is going to be huge… that franchise is somehow completely against the Hollywood trent, making more and more money and gaining more and more pupularity with every outing.
And do not forget Hangover III which (as a trilogy closer) will probably make as much money or even outperform part II.
And in two weeks people are getting another Sci-Fi space themed film with the Smith’s After Earth outing.
Though competition. At least ID should break even at the domestic BO 190 million budget. Considering the heavy promotion add another 40 – 50 million. If the film makes at least 150 million internationally it can be considered a slight success.
The last minute domestic release of the movie from Friday, 5/17 to Thursday, 5/16 was a good move, but the decision was made too late for it to be a fully effective marketing adjustment. The move was poorly timed to garner the full benefit. Many people weren’t aware of the change and didn’t get to the theaters until Friday, 5/17 the original release date.
SATURDAY 8:30 AM, 5TH UPDATE:
Friday domestic numbers for for Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot diverged wildly last night as did estimates for the 3-day weekend and 4 1/2-day cume. Heck, they’re still over the place.
One thing I can say for sure: despite the passage of 4 years and the addition of 3D and IMAX for ticket premiums, Star Trek Into Darkness even though its release began Wednesday night will not beat 2009′s Star Trek opening 3-day weekend.
The new film’s 4 1/2 day number may not even gross bigger than 2009′s $75.2M. Paramount obviously wants to put the best face on an underperforming situation and is still telling me that “when opening day isn’t Friday you get a higher multiple vs Friday”. But the numbers are the numbers, and rival studios have estimates for STID that are dramatically lower.
Don’t get me wrong: the movie is still making a lot of money. Just not the $100M cume predicted all week by the studio which is now claiming $22M for Friday, $70M for the 3-day weekend, and $83M for the 4 1/2-day total. Rival studios have numbers of $21.6-$22.0M for Friday, $56.2M-$66.2M for the 3-day weekend, and $69.7M-$75.5M for the 4 1/2-day total.
http://www.deadline.com/2013/05/star-trek-into-darkness-3d-opens-to-2m-late-night-and-imax/
@34 The only thing that would have made the reveal more absurd is if Cumby started talking like Ricardo.
42 – $65 million for the 3 day weekend would be a disaster
So it seems like the international marketing plan worked perfectly but not so much for the domestic one (my local theater didn’t have a single poster even advertising the film, but the other two theaters I’ve gone to have had multiple and prominent displays).
For movie number three (and I’m positive there will be one because it’s the 50th anniversary and you can turn it into a crazy year long event), they can combine their 2009 domestic marketing efforts with the 2013 international efforts and finally hit on a combination that works everywhere.
Also, lose the mystery box thing. I feel like people got worn out with the guessing and subterfuge until finally they kind of just didn’t care. It was annoying after a while even for me.
I still think this is a solid film with good reviews and it’ll do fine in the long run, even without such a front loaded opening. My guess is that the profit will be more spread out but still good cumulatively. 100+ million is a nice number to imagine but I was a bit skeptical about it, tbh, as I think a lot of us were.
Going tonight, can’t wait! First of at least a couple of time- I hope it does better, as the weekend progresses.
Another thing I’d like to note – I’m not sure if this is the case elsewhere, but here, Iron Man 3 is still on more screens, 2 weeks later, than Star Trek is, so the theaters seem to have known something
Obviously there were some marketing/timing issues. I’m hearing very positive WOM, myself, and think that total box office may even itself out as time passes. We’ll see. I saw a Thurs. matinee (couldn’t get to a Weds. nite show), and am going again with friends on Sunday.
I really enjoyed STID, though the pace of the film was a bit fast for me. It was a huge amount of content to take in. That may just be middle-aged me, though. ;)
Am I the only one who really hates those Marvel/Disney fast food comic book based films?
Avengers was awefull and I am certain IM3 is not better… I will not even dare to think about crap like Thor, Captain America and other followups.
I was watching ZQ with Chelsea Handler and saw CP with Ellen and I’m wondering if this sort of interview is able to convince someone to go see the movie, it seems only conversations revolving around nonsense … and obviously I’m not referring to the movie … anyway because nobody seems to be interested in talking about the movie, in this kind of show!
…………………………
I saw the movie yesterday, it’s a fantastic movie! I loved it!