'Star Trek Beyond' tops box office, but not boldly

A movie poster for "Star Trek Beyond" the latest instalment of the 50-year old movie franchise that topped the box office but with underwhelming receipts that left analysts wondering whether it can live long and prosper. PHOTO | COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • "Star Trek Beyond" dislodged "The Secret Life of Pets" from two weeks in the top spot. "Pets," which racked up an impressive $104.4 million in its debut weekend, took in $29.6 million.
  • Box Office Mojo analyst Brad Brevet projected a final domestic haul of around $180 million for Justin Lin's science-fiction adventure, which sees the USS Enterprise crew shipwrecked on a hostile planet.
  • "In the end, 'Into Darkness' came in below 2009's 'Star Trek' reboot domestically, but outperformed the 2009 film internationally by $110 million."

LOS ANGELES

"Star Trek Beyond" topped the box office in its opening weekend, data showed Monday, but with underwhelming receipts that left analysts wondering whether it can live long and prosper.

Paramount's latest installment in the 50-year-old franchise took $59.3 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations — a 15 percent drop on the opening for 2013's "Star Trek Into Darkness."

Box Office Mojo analyst Brad Brevet projected a final domestic haul of around $180 million for Justin Lin's science-fiction adventure, which sees the USS Enterprise crew shipwrecked on a hostile planet.

That would be a marked decline on the $228.7 million take for "Into Darkness" and an even bigger drop on 2009's "Star Trek," which delivered $257.7 million.

"However, given 'Beyond''s $185 million budget, all eyes will now turn toward the film's international performance," Brevet wrote.

"In the end, 'Into Darkness' came in below 2009's 'Star Trek' reboot domestically, but outperformed the 2009 film internationally by $110 million."

TOP TEN MOVIES

"Star Trek Beyond" dislodged "The Secret Life of Pets" from two weeks in the top spot. "Pets," which racked up an impressive $104.4 million in its debut weekend, took in $29.6 million.

The Universal Pictures animated comedy follows two pet dogs let loose in New York City, featuring the voices of comedian Louis CK and actor Eric Stonestreet.

David Sandberg's "Lights Out," a horror movie about a creature that only attacks in the dark, debuted in third place, taking in $21.7 million at the box office.

Close behind was "Ice Age: Collision Course" with a $21.4 million take in its debut.

The 3-D animated film — with the slogan "Kiss your ice goodbye" — features animals trying to fend off a meteor strike that would destroy the world.

"Ghostbusters" — a remake of the 1984 supernatural comedy that replaces the male leads with women — dropped to less than half of its opening weekend box office, taking in just $21 million.

Rounding out the top 10 films of the weekend were:

-- "Finding Dory" ($7.2 million)

-- "The Legend of Tarzan" ($6.6 million)

-- "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" ($4.4 million)

-- "Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party" ($3.7 million)

-- "The Infiltrator" ($3.3 million)